University  of  California  •  Berkeley 

JOSEPH  M.  BRANSTEN 
COFFEE  &  TEA  COLLECTION 


5vs  r* 

x 


\ 


>  . 


»      \ 

\  V 


TREATISE 


FOOD    AND   DIET: 


WITH 
| 

OBSERVATIONS  ON  THE 


DIETETICAL    REGIMEN 


SUITED    FOR 


DISORDERED    STATES    OF  THE    DIGESTIVE    ORGANS; 


Account  of  t!ie  ZHetacrfi 

I 

OF  SOME  OF  THE 

PRINCIPAL    METROPOLITAN    AND    OTHER    ESTABLISHMENTS 

FOR 

PAUPERS.  LUNATICS.  CRIMINALS,  CHILDREN,  THE  SICK,  &c 

BY 

JONATHAN  PEREIRA,  M,D,,  F.R.S.,  &  LS, 

LICENTIATE   OP  THE   ROYAL  COLLEGE   OF  PHYSICIANS  IN   LONDON,   ETC.,  ETC. 
EDITED   BY 

CHARLES  A.  LEE,  M.D. 


NEW    YORK: 

PUBLISHED    BY 

FOWLER     &  WELLS.  389    BROADWAY.    NEW  YORK 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1843, 
BY  J.  &  H.  G.  LANGLEY, 

the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  Dis*.riit  Court  for  the  Southern  Distrio 
of  New  York. 


Stereotyped  by 

RICHARD  C.  VALENTINE, 
4f  GolU-«trfet,  New  fork. 


PREFACE. 


THE  idea  of  the  present  treatise  occurred  to  the  author  during  the  preparation  of  an- 
other work,  when  he  repeatedly  experienced  the  want  of  a  detailed  and  individual  account 
of  alimentary  substances. 

His  original  intention  was  to  have  treated  the  subject  in  the  same  full  and  systematic 
manner  that  he  has  elsewhere  done  the  articles  of  the  Materia  Medica  ;  and  he  had,  in 
fact,  begun  to  collect  materials  for  a  work  on  this  plan.  But  he  soon  found  that  the  sub- 
ject was  too  extensive  to  be  treated  in  such  a  way ;  within,  at  least,  reasonable  limits. 
He  was,  therefore,  compelled  to  abandon,  though  with  considerable  reluctance,  his 
original  design,  and  to  substitute  for  it  the  present  work,  in  which  he  has  excluded  all 
Natural  Historical  details ;  preferring  this  course  to  that  of  giving  a  mere  sketch  or 
epitome  of  the  subject. 

The  present  treatise  on  Diet  differs  from  its  predecessors  in  several  particulars,  some 
of  which  it  may  not  be  useless  to  point  out. 

In  the  first  place,  it  contains  a  tolerably  full  account  of  the  chemical  elements  of  food, — 
a  subject  which  has  always  appeared  to  the  author  of  considerable  importance,  and  to 
which  the  recent  researches  and  conclusions  of  Boussingault,  Liebig,  and  Dumas  have 
given  additional  interest.  It  is  one,  however,  which  preceding  dietetical  writers  have  al- 
together passed  over,  or  only  incidentally  alluded  to ;  and  in  no  work,  with  which  he  is 
acquainted,  has  it  been  systematically  treated. 

Another  peculiarity  of  the  present  work  is  the  increased  space  devoted  to  the  considera- 
tion of  alimentary  principles,  the  number  of  which  the  author,  for  reasons  he  has  else- 
where assigned,  has  considered  it  proper  to  augment. 

The  plan  of  separately  considering  Alimentary  Principles  and  Compound  Aliments, 
adopted  from  Tiedemann,*  he  considers  to  be  greatly  superior  to  the  ordinary  method  of 
treating  these  subjects,  and  which  consists  in  the  arrangement  of  foods  according  to  the 
proximate  or  immediate  principle  predominating  in  their  composition.  Such  a  classifica- 
tion is  open  to  the  glaring  and  obvious  objection,  that  most  of  the  foods  in  ordinary  use 
consist  of  several  alimentary  principles.  Thus,  butchers'  meat  consists  of  fibrine,  albumen, 
gelatine,  and  fat ;  bread,  of  starch,  gluten,  gum,  and  sugar ;  milk,  of  caseine,  butter,  and 
sugar.  Now,  to  arrange  meat  among  fibrinous,  bread  among  starchy,  and  milk  among 
caseous,  foods,  is  to  overlook  the  other  important  constituents  of  these  substances,  and 
/  to  give  a  very  imperfect  view  of  their  alimentary  properties. 

The  author  did  not  venture,  without  considerable  hesitation  and  doubt  as  to  its  pro- 
priety, to  deviate  from  Dr.  Prout's  beautifully  simple  and  generally  admitted  classification 
of  alimentary  principles,  into  the  aqueous,  the  'Saccharine,  the  albuminous,  and  the  oleagin- 
ous. After  mature  consideration,  however,  he  satisfied  himself  of  the  impossibility  of 
reducing  all  nutritive  principles  to  these  four  heads.  Common  salt,  for  example,  which  a 
recent  write~f  justly  observes,  "  can  by  no  means  be  considered  only  as  a  luxury,  but  as 

*  Untersuchungen  uber  das  Nahrungs-Bedurfnvss  den  Nahrungs-Trieb  und  die   Nahrungs-Mittel  des 
Menschen.     Darmstadt,  1836. 
j         t  On  Gravel,  Calculus,  and  Gout,  by  H.  Bence  Jones,  M.A.,  p.  46.    London,  1842. 

I  '  


iv  PREFACE. 


a  substance  as  essential  to  life  as  nitrogenous  or  non-nitrogenous  food  and  water,"  can  be 
referred  to  no  one  of  these  four  classes.  Moreover,  lemon  juice,  which  constitutes 
one  of  our  most  valuable  antiscorbutic  foods,  does  not  owe  its  efficiency  to  water, 
etigar,  albumen,  or  oil.  Furthermore,  to  call  gum,  starch,  and  acetic  acid,  sac- 
charine substances, — gelatine  an  albuminous  one, — or  alcohol  an  oleaginous  one,  is  to 
assign  new  meanings  to  common  and  familiar  terms.  Gelatine  and  albumen  are  not 
mutually  convertible  into  each  other  by  any  known  chemical  process,  nor  can  oil  be 
transformed  into  alcohol,  or.  vice  versa,  alcohol  into  oil.  For  these  reasons,  therefore, 
the  author  has  ventured  to  adopt  a  new  and  enlarged  arrangement  of  alimentary  prin- 
ciples, which  he  now  submits  to  the  notice  of  his  professional  brethren. 

Considerable  pains  have  been  taken  iii  the  preparation  of  Tables  representing  the  pro- 
portion of  some  of  the  chemical  elements,  and  of  the  alimentary  principles  contained  in 
different  foods  ;  and  the  author  believes  they  will  be  found  as  complete  and  accurate  as 
the  present  state  of  our  knowledge  admits. 

Another  peculiar  feature  of  this  treatise  is  the  chapter  on  Dietaries,  which  has  been 
rendered  necessary  by  the  discussions  which  have  been  going  on,  for  many  months  past, 
in  the  public  journals  and  elsewhere,  respecting  the  amount  of  food  proper  to  be  supplied 
to  paupers,  prisoners,  and  others.  The  subject  has  in  this  way  forced  itself  on  the  atten- 
tion of  all  grades  of  society ;  and  professional  men  and  others  must  have  long  felt  the 
want  of  a  work  giving  an  account  of  the  dietaries  in  use  in  various  Public  Establishments 
in  this  country,  as  well  as  in  the  Navy  and  Army.  The  author  greatly  regrets  that  the 
necessarily  limited  extent  of  the  present  treatise  has  precluded  him  from  entering  into 
a  variety  of  interesting  details  connected  with  this  subject 

47  FINSBURY  SQUARK,  LOWDON.  I 
June  13,  1843. 


AMERICAN    PREFACE. 


IN  complying  with  the  request  of  the  Author  of  the  following  work,  to  make  such 
additions  as  would  better  adapt  it  to  the  wants  of  the  American  reader,  it  was  far  from 
my  design  or  expectation  to  extend  my  remarks  so  far,  or  to  comment  on  such  a  variety 
of  topics.  The  subject  of  "food  and  diet"  is,  however,  so  extensive,  embracing  such  a 
multitude  of  facts,  and  not  a  little  of  theory,  as  to  embarrass  by  its  very  copiousness, — so 
that  the  chief  difficulty  of  one  who  enters  upon  this  boundless  field,  is,  to  know  where  to 
begin,  and  when  to  stop.  My  object  has  been,  chiefly,  to  notice  those  topics  upon  which 
additional  information  would,  perhaps,  be  considered  desirable  by  the  American  reader ; 
and,  while  I  left  the  text  entire,  to  offer  such  brief  comments  as  some  reading  and  reflec- 
tion would  naturally  suggest.  This  plan  was  also  in  accordance  with  the  wishes  of  the 
publishers.  Such  notes,  therefore,  as  have  been  added,  will  be  found  either  at  the  bottom 
of  the  page,  or  in  the  Appendix. 

With  respect  to  the  merits  of  this  treatise,  it  is  scarcely  necessary  for  me  to  speak.  It 
fully  meets  a  desideratum,  which  modern  discoveries,  the  improvements  in  practical  and 
experimental  physiology,  and  especially  the  late  achievements  in  analytic  chemistry,  have 
created ;  and  which,  since  the  appearance  of  Liebig's  remarkable  works,  every  one  must 
have  felt  could  not  long  remain  unsupplied.  On  perusal  of  these  pages,  the  reader  will 
doubtless  agree  with  me  in  opinion,  that  the  task  could  not  have  fallen  into  abler  hands, 
as  it  certainly  could  not  have  been  accomplished,  in  all  respects,  in  a  more  satisfactory 
manner.  The  author,  Mr.  Pereira,  is  well  known  throughout  Europe  and  America,  as 
one  of  the  most  learned,  scientific,  and  practical  men  of  the  age, — a  physician  of  great 
experience  and  accurate  observation, — a  highly  successful  writer,  unsurpassed  in  the 
judicious  selection  and  arrangement  of  facts,  and  in  the  felicity  of  his  illustrations  and 
reasonings.  To  the  medical  profession  especially,  he  is  universally  and  most  favorably 
known,  as  the  author  of  the  best  work  on  the  Materia  Medico,  which  has  hitherto  appeared  ^ 
in  our  language.  With  such  rare  qualifications,  he  could  hardly  fail  in  producing  a 
most  valuable  treatise  ;  and,  as  such,  we  commend  it  to  the  favorable  consideration  of  the 
public,  as  no  less  adapted  to  inform  the  physician  and  rr  an  of  science,  th*.n  to  interest 
and  instruct  the  general  reader. 

C    A.  L. 


CONTENTS. 


Preface  jjj_iv 

American  Preface -- v 

Contents VH — xiv 


PART  I.— OF  FOODS. 


Distinction  between  the  Chemical  Elements  of  Food,  Alimentary  Principles,  and 
Compound  Aliments 1 


CHAP.  I.— OF  THE  CHEMICAL  ELEMENTS  OF  FOODS. 

Number  of  Simple  Bodies  known — suspicions  as  to  their  real  elementary  character. — 
Chemical  Elements  of  organized  beings — cannot  be  formed  in  the  living  body — 
Prout's  idea  that  some  of  the  so-called  elements  are  formed  by  vital  agents. — 
Chemical  Elements  of  the  food  of  man  2 — 3 

1.  CARBON — its  forms — quantity  in  foods — daily  consumption  of— amount  of  oxygen 

required  to  burn  the  carbon — carbonic  acid  and  heat  produced  in  the  process. — 
Consumption  of  food  augmented  by  cold — error  of  Liebig  in  ascribing  the  glut- 
tony of  certain  nations  to  the  coldness  of  climate  exclusively — case  of  the  Hot- 
tentots and  the^  Bushmen — gluttony  ascribed  by  the  author  in  part  to  cerebral 
organization — Case  of  the  Germans,  Spaniards,  and  French — deficiency  of 
food  attended  with  diminished  evolution  of  heat. — Diseases  of  the  liver  in- 
duced by  external  heat — how — mode  of  artificially  enlarging  the  liver  of  the 
goose — pates  de  foies  gras — less  food  required  in  tropical  climates  and  hot  sea- 
sons— why 4 — 11 

2.  HYDROGEN.     Relative  quantity  of  hydrogen  and  oxygen  in  alimentary  princi- 

ples.— Hydrates  of  carbon — respiration  of  graminivorous  animals. — Aliments 
with  excess  of  hydrogen — oxydation  of  hydrogen  during  respiration — heat 
developed  by  the  combustion  of  hydrogen. — Aliments  with  excess  of  oxy- 
gen -  -  -  -  T  -  -  - 11—13 

3.  OXTGEN.     Constitutes  three  fourths  of  the  terraqueous  globe — animal  life  insep- 

arably connected  with  the  influence  of  oxygen  on  the  organism — vital  air  the 
cause  of  death. — Relative  quantity  of  oxygen  in  aliments. — Consumption  of 
oxygen  in  respiration  modified  by  the  nature  of  the  food — changes  effected  by 
the  system  on  the  vegetabb  alkalin3  salts,  and  probable  consequences  -  -  13 — 15 


CONTENTS. 


Page 

4.  NITROGEN.     Quantity  of  in  foods. — Plastic  elements  of  nutrition  and  elements 

of  respiration — arguments  in  favor  of  nitrogenized  foods  alone  being  elements 
of  nutrition — inconclusiveness  of  some  of  them — Dr.  Prout's  notion  of  the  gen- 
eration of  nitrogen  in  the  system,  and  of  the  conversion  of  fat  and  sugar  into 
nitrogenized  compounds — proteine  and  its  compounds — composition  of  the 
food  consumed  by,  and  of  the  excretions  of,  a  horse  during  twenty-four  hours — 
resume  of  the  opinions  of  Liebig  on  foods — difficulties. — Uses  of  non-nitrogen- 
ized  foods — alcohol  an  element  of  respiration — is  a  fuel — its  action  on  the  brain 
and  liver — Temperance  and  Tee-total  Societies — formation  of  fat  by  non- 
nitrogeriized  foods — Oriental  mode  of  producing  obesity — Hogarth's  Beer  Alley 
and  Gin  Lane. — Boussingault's  scale  of  nutritive  equivalents. — Nitrogen  a  con- 
stituent of  all  vegetable  poisons,  according  to  Liebig  ........  15 — 29 

5.  PHOSPHORUS.      A    constituent   of  the   body    and   of  food — insanity   and    idiotcy 

ascribed  to  abnormal  variations  in  its  quantity — csecal  phosphatic  calculi  of 
horses — quantity  of  phosphorus  in  foods 29 — 31 

6.  SULPHUR.     Its  existence  in  the  body — organic  origin  of  native  sulphur — evolu- 

tion of  sulphur  by  organic  substances — cause  of  the  awful  miasma  of  the 
Western  Coast  of  Africa — effect  of  lead  on  the  gums — quantity  of  sulphur  in 
foods  -  - 31—53 

7.  IRON.     A  constituent  of  the  blood — Liebig's  hypothesis  of  its  agency  in  respira- 

tion, and  of  the  action  of  sulphureted  hydrogen  and  prussic  acid  on  the  system 

— iron  a  constituent  of  foods     --------_.„..._     33 — 35 

8.  CHLORINE.     A  constituent  of  the  blood  and  of  several  secretions — Pepsin — Liebig's 

fermentation  hypothesis  of  digestion— objections  to  it .T> 

9.  SODIUM.     A  constituent  of  the  animal  body,  of  the  secretions,  and  of  the  food        -    36 

10.  CALCIUM.     A  constituent  of  animals  and  of  their  food. — Does  the  lime  of  the 

skeleton  of  the  chick  pre-exist  in  the  egg,  or  is  it  generated? — Gypsum  eaten 

by  the  Chinese — morbid  appetite  for  calcareous  substances 36 — 37 

11.  MAGNESIUM.     A  constituent  of  the  body  and  of  the  food    -     -    - 37 

12.  POTASSIUM.     Potash  necessary  for  the  secretion  of  milk — found  in  vegetables     -    37 

13.  FLUORINE.    Found  in  the  bones  and  teeth 38 


CHAP.  II.— OF  ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLES. 

Dr.  Prout's  classes  of  alimentary  principles — reasons  for  admitting  others 

1.  THE  AQUEOUS  ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLE.  Quantity  of  water  contained  in  the 
animal  body  and  in  foods. — Is  water  a  nutriment? — Uses  of  water  in  the  sys- 
tem— its  influence  on  the  conversion  of  uric  acid  into  urea — diluent  diet — dry 
diet  -  - 38-42 


CONTENTS.  ix 


i.  Common  Water.  Rain  Water — its  impurities — carbonate  of  ammonia  a  con-  - 
stituent  of  it. — Snow  Water — Spring  Water — River  Water — analyses  of 
Thames  and  Colne  Waters — injurious  effects  of  water  contaminated  wit-ii 
decomposing  organic  matters — illustrative  cases — Metropolitan  churchyards 
and  the  pumps — British  army  at  Ciudad  Rodrigo  affected  with  dysentery. — 
Entophyta  and  Entozoa. — Well  Water — Artesian  Wells — effects  of  Hard 

Water — Water  impregnated  with  lead — its  effects — remedy. — Lake  Water 

Marsh  Water. — Tests  of  the  impurities  in  common  water — purification  of 
water — Professor  Clark's  patent — error  of  the  patentee 42 51 

ii.  Sea  Water*     Solid  constituents  of — effects  of      --------    .-51 

iii.  Mineral  Waters.     Classes  of- — their  properties     -------„-_     52 

iv.  Distilled   Water.    Employment   of,   as  a   preventive   of  constitutional   dis- 
ease     52—53 

2.  THE  MUCILAGINOUS  ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLE.     Quantity  of  gum  in  food — prox- 

imate and  ultimate  analyses  of  gum — effects  and  uses  of  guni. — Gum  Water — 
Mucilage — Gum  Lozenges — Gum  Pastes,  Pate  de  Jujubes,  and  Pate  de  Gui- 
mauve 53—54 

3.  THE. SACCHARINE  ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLE.     Quantity  of  sugar  in  foods — table  of 

saccharine  matters — composition  of  sugars — dietetical  effects  and  uses  of 
sugar — fondness  of  children  for  it  instinctive. — Viscous  or  mucilaginous  fer- 
mentation— formation  of  lactic  acid  in  the  stomach. — Diabetes — oxalate  of  lime 
and  phosphatic  diatheses. — Refined  Sugar — Brown  Sugar — Sugar  Candy — 
Sugar  Water  and  Syrup — Boiled  Sugars,  Barley  Sugar,  x^cidulated  Drops, 
Hardbake  and  Toffee,  Pulled  Sugar  or  Penides — Molasses  and  Treacle — Burnt 
Sugar,  Caramel,  Browning — Hard  Confectionery,  Lozenges,  &c. — Liquorice, 
Sugar — Preserves 55 — 59 

4.  THE  AMYLACEOUS  ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLE.     Quantity  ot  starch  in  plants — shape 

of  the  grains  (figures) — necessity  of  cooking — alimentary  qualities — Sago — 
Tapioca  and  Cassava — Arrow-root — Tons  les  Mois — Potato  Starch — Tahiti 
Arrow-root — East  Indian  Arrow-root — Portland  Arrow-root — Rice  Starch- — Lich- 
enin  or  Feculoid — Salep 59 — 66  [j 

, 

5.  THE  LIGNEOUS  ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLE.     Quantity  in  plants — its  composition — 

doubts  as  to  its  nutritive  quality — wood-brea(J — bark-bread — indigestible  parts 

of  vegetables — Fungin       _...-----..-.-_.    66 — 68 

6.  THE  PECTINACEOUS  ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLE.     Vegetable  Jelly — Pectine — Pectic 

Acid — composition — dietetical  properties — Fruit  Jellies  — Jams — Carragee- 
nin 69—71 


7.  THE  ACIDULOUS   ALIMENTARY   PRINCIPLE.     Reasons   for   aaaiitting  it — Acetic 

Acid,  Pyroligneous  acid — Vinegar — usefulness — ill  consequences. — Citric  Acid 
— Artificial  Lemon  Juice — Lemon  and  Kali. — Tartaric  Acid — Concrete  Acid- 
ulated Alkali — Soda,  Ginger-beer,  and  Seidlitz  Powders — Imperial — Acidu- 
ulated  Lozenges — Malic  Acid — Oxalic  Acid — Lactic  Acid — Tannic  Acid  -  71 — 76 

8.  THE  ALCOHOLIC  ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLE.     Quantity  of  alcohol  in  wines,  spirits, 

malt  liquors,  &c. — Brandy — Rum — Gin — Whiskey — Arrack — Liqueurs  and 
Compounds 76 — SO 


CONTENTS. 


9.  THE  OILY  ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLE.  Fixed  Oil — quantity  in  different  foods — 
composition — digestibility — nutritive  qualities. — Olive  or  Sweet  Oil — Butter — 
Marrow— Animal  Fats— Essential  or  Volatile  Oils 80—89 

10.  THE  PROTEINACEOUS  ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLE.     Proteine — composition — Animal 

Proteinaceous  Principles,  Fibrine — Albumen — Caseine — quantities  of  each  in 
foods — Milk — Cheese. — Vegetable  Proteinaceous  Principles,  Vegetable  Fibrine, 
Albumen,  Caseine,  and  Gluten 89—99 

11.  THE  GELATINOUS  ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLE.    Quantity  in  foods — Collin — Chon- 

drin — Gelatine  from  Elastic  tissues — Gelatine  altered  bi,  heat — composition — 
digestibility — nutritive  qualities. — Isinglass — Cod  Sounds — Dry  and  Hard  Gel- 
atine, Grenetine — Hartshorn — Calves'  feet,  heads,  &c 99 — 107 

12.  THE   SALINE  ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLE.      Common    Salt — Earthy   Phosphates — 

Potash  Salts — Ferruginous  Compounds        ..........     107 — 110 


CHAP.  III.— COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 

I.  SOLID  ALIMENTS,  OR  ALIMENTS  PROPER. 

Man  an  omnivorous  animal — denied  by  some 110 — 111 

SECTION    I.       ANIMAL    FOODS. 

Chemical  and  organic  nature  of  animal  foods — composition  of  animal  flesh   ...     Ill 

CLASS  I.  MAMMALS.  Bones,  their  composition — Bone  Soup — Cartilages,  Tendons, 
Aponeuroses,  and  Ligaments — Cellular  Tissue — Muscles  or  Flesh — Viscera, 
brain,  tongue,  heart,  thymus  or  sweetbread,  liver,  kidneys,  alimentary  canal, 
(tripe) — Blood — Milk,  composition,  sugar  of  milk — Cream,  skimmed  milk — 
Milk  diet — Whey — Molkencuren  or  Cures  de  Petit  Lait — Buttermilk — Devon- 
shire  cream — different  kinds  of  Milk Ill — 125 

€LASS  II.  BIRDS.     Flesh,  its  varieties — Viscera — brains,  gizzard,  intestine,  liver. — 

Fat— Eggs 12&-130 

CLAS«   III.    REPTILES.      Turtle— Callapash    and    Callipee  — Green    Fat— Turtle 

Soup 130—131 

CLASS  IV.  FISHES.  Ichthyophagi — White  Bait,  mode  of  cooking — Integuments 
of  fishes — Flesh,  its-  composition,  digestibility,  varieties,  effects,  prepara- 
tion— Viscera,  liver,  swimming  bladder  or  sound,  roe  or  ovary,  milt  or  tes- 
ticle   131—138 

CLASS  V.  CRUSTACEANS.     Lobster,  Sea  Craicfish,  Crabs,  Prawns,  Shrimps      -     138 — 139 


CONTENTS.  Xi 


CLASS  VI.  MOLLUSKS.     Shell  fish — bivalves  and  univalves — The  Oyster — Mussel — 

Cockles — Scallops — Periwinkles — Limpets — Whelks — Snails     ....     139 — 142 

• 

Diseased  and  Decayed  Animal  Substani'& 142 143 


SECTION   H.       VEGETABLE   POODS. 

Mode  of  arrangement 143 — 144 

Class  I.    Aliments  from  Flowering  Plants. 

• 

Order  I.    Seeds. 

1.  MEALY  OR  FARINACEOUS  SEEDS — their  division       ..........    144 

«•  Cereal  Grains  or  Corn — 'composition  and  digestibility     .......     144 — 145 

i.  Wheat — its  composition. — Semolina — Soujee — Mannacroup — Macaroni  — Ver- 
micelli— Cagliari  Paste — Hard's  and  Densham's  Farinaceous  Foods. — Fer- 
mented or  leavened  bread — compressed  bread — gluten  bread. — Unfermented 
or  unleavened  bread — biscuits — gingerbread — Dodson's  patent  bread. — Dis- 
eases of  Wheat — Cakes,  pastry,  puddings,  panado 145 — 154 

ii.  Oats,  Groats. — Oatmeal. — Composition. — Oat-bread — Gruel — Porridge — Flum- 
mery or  Sowans - 154 — 156 

iii.  Barley.    Scotch  and  Pearl  Barley. — Composition — Barley-bread — Barley  Water, 

simple  and  compound. — Mall — Sweetwort    ---------     156—157 

iv.  Rye.    Composition. — Rye  or  black  bread — Rye  pottage. — Ergotism       -    157 — 158 

v.  Rice.    Composition. — Rice  starch — Rioe  gluten — Mucilage  of  Rice — Rice  milk, 

puddings,  and  cakes ..._     158 — 160 

vi.  Maize  or  Indian  Corn.     Composition. — Polenta --.    160 — 161 

&•   Leguminous  Seeds — Peas,  Beans,  Lentils — their  composition — alimentary  qual- 
ities   -    ...     161—163 

Y-   Seeds  of  Cupulifera.    Chestnuts 163 

0 

2.  OILY  SEEDS,      Walnuts — Hazel-nuts — Cashew-nuts — Pistachio-nuts — Stone  Pine 

nuts — Cocoa-nuts — Almonds,  composition  of  bitter  and  sweet  ones — bitter  al- 
monds— amygdaline — prussic  acid — macaroons  or  ratifia  cakes — volatile  oil  of 
aim  >nds — its  poisonous  properties 163 — 165 


xii  CONTENTS. 


Pag. 
Order  II.    Fleshy  Fruits. 

1.  DRUPACEOUS    OR    STONE    FRUITS.      The    Peach — Nectarine — Apricot — Plum, 

Prune — Cherry — Olive — olives  farcies  1'huile,  pickled  olives,  and  olives  a  la 
picholine — Date 165—1:7 

2.  POMACEOUS  FRUITS  OR  APPLES.     Apples — Pears — Quinces  -----     167 — 168 

3.  BACCATE  OR  BERRIED  FRUITS.     Currants — Gooseberries — Cranberries — Elder- 

berries— Grapes,  Raisins,  Cure  de  Raisins    -------          --     168—171 

4.  THE  ORANGE  OR  AURANTIACEOUS  FRUITS.     Oranges — Lemons — Citrons — Shad- 

docks       171—173 

5.  THE    CUCURBITACEOUS    FRUITS.      Cucumbers — Melons— Water  Melons— Vege- 

table Marrow — Pumpkin *  173 — 175 

6.  THE  LEGUMINOUS  FRUITS.     Tamarinds — French  Beans — Scarlet  Beans    -     174 — 175 

7.  SYCONUS.    Figs - 175 

8.  SOROSIS.     Mulberries — The  Pine  Apple 175—176 

9.  ET-ERIO.     Strawberries — Raspberries — Blackberries      .-•-.....     176 

Order  III.    Roots,  Subterraneous  Stems,  and  Tubers. 

Relative  digestibility  of  the  different  kinds.     The  Turnip — Carrot — Parsnip — Jeru- 
salem Artichoke — Potato 177 — 182 


Order  IV.    Buds  and  Young  Shoots. 
Onions — Leeks — Garlic — Shallots — Asparagus        183 

Order  V.    Leaves  and  Leaf  Stalks. 

,x^ 

Chlorophylle — The  Cabbage— Savoy— Greens—  Cauliflower— Broccoli. — Sauerkraut 
— Turnip  tops — Spinage — Mustard  and  Cress — Lettuce — Endive — Rhubarb  for 
tarts  183—185 

Order  VI.    Receptacles  and  Bracts. 
The  Garden  Artichoke,  (Cynara  Scolymus) .....185 


Order  VII.    Stems. 
Cycadaceae  and  Palms     -..-------.---..---     185    ' 


CONTENTS. 


Xlll 


Page 
Class  II.    Aliments  from  fflmverless  Plants. 

Order  I.     Ferns. 
Tuberous  Rl  izomes * ' 186 

Order  II.    Lichens. 
Lichenin  or  Feculoid. — Tripe  de  Roche — Iceland  Moss    ........     186 — 187 

Order  III.     Algae  or  Sea  Weeds. 
Lai-er — Carrageen  or  Irish  Moss — Ceylon  or  Jaffna  Moss   .......     187 — 183 

Order  IV.    Fungi  or  Mushrooms. 
Common  or  Field  Mushroom — Common  Morel — Common  Truffle       ....    188 — 189 

II   LIQUID  ALIMENTS,  OR  DRINKS. 

Order  I.    Mucilaginous,  Farinaceous,  or  Saccharine  Drinks. 
Slops  or  Tisans.     Toast  Water,  &c 189 

Order  II.    Aromatic  and  Astringent  Drinks. 

Tea,  botany,  composition,  effects,  and  uses — Coffee,  varieties,  adulteration,  compo- 
sition, effects  and  uses — Chicory  or  Succory — Chocolate — Cocoa  *  -  -  189 — 195 

Order  III.    Acidulous  Drinks. 

Lemonade — Raspberry-vinegar  Water — Imperial — Apple    Tea — Soda   Water — Ginger 

Beer. — Other  effervescing  aqueous  drinks 195 — 196 

Order  IV.    Drinks  containing  Gelatine  and  Osmazome. 

Broths  and  Soups. — Composition  of  broth  and  boiled  meat. — Beef  Tea-*-Mutton  Broth 

—Chicken  Broth— Veal  Broth 196—197 

Order  V.    Emulsive  or  Milky  Drinks. 
Animal  Milk— Almond  Milk— Orgeat— Cocoa-nut  Milk 197—198 

Order  VI.    Alcoholic  and  other  Intoxicating  Drinks. 

Malt  Liquor  or  Beer — density,  composition,  effects. — Ale — Indian  Pale  Ale — Table 
Ale — Porter,  adulterations. —  Wine,  varieties,  constituents,  effects,  and  uses — 
Sherry — Port  Wine — Madeira — Champagne — German  Wines — Claret  Wines — 
Burgundy. — Other  mtoxicating  drinks 198 — 209 


xiv  CONTENTS. 


Page 

m.  CONDIMEFTS,  OR  SEASONING  AGENTS. 

Order  1. — Saline  Condiments. — 2.  Acidulous^ondiments. — 3.  Oily  Condiments. — 

4.  Saccharine  Condiments. — 5t  Aromatic  and  Pungent  Condiments   -    -    209 — 210 


PART  II.— OF  DIET. 


CHAP.  I.— OF  THE  DIGESTIBILITY  OF  FOOD. 

secondary  assimilation — artificial  digestion — pepsine  or  chymosine — fer- 
mentation hypothesis  of  digestion       211 — 212 

1.  Digestibility  of  foods  affected  by  circumstances  relating  to  the  foods  themselves — vege- 

table or  animal  food — cohesion — tenderness  of  fibre — incipient  decomposition 
— age — minuteness  of  division  by  cooking  and  mastication — insalivation — 
cookery  -^ 212—213 

2.  Digestibility  of  foods  affected  by  circumstances  relating  to  the  individual  or  organism — 

state  of  body  or  mind — idiosyncrasy — habits — intervals  between  meals — keen- 
ness of  appetite — exercise — amount  of  food  eaten — passions  of  the  mind — 
morbid  states  of  system. — Difference  of  opinion  as  to  repose  after  meals — 
author's  opinion. — Beaumont's  table  of  the  Digestibility  of  Foods  -  -  -  213 — 217 


CHAP.  II.— OF  THE  NUTRITIVE  QUALITIES  OF  FOODS. 

Amount  of  water  in  foods — indigestible  constituents — relative  value  of  nutritious 
substances — non-nitrogenized  and  njtrogenized  aliments. — Table  showing  the 
amount  of^dry  mailer,  moisture,  carbon,  and  nitrogen  in  foods. — Conclusions  of 
the  Gelatine  Commission 217 — 220 


CHAP.  III.— TIMES  OF  EATING. 

Time  required  for  the  digestion  of  the  food — interval  between  the  meals — experi- 
ments made  at  the  Zoological  Gardens  on  the  carnivorous  mammalia — fixed 
periods  for  eating — number  of  meals  per  day. — Breakfast — Luncheon — Dinner 
— Tea — Supper 220—222 


CONTENTS. 


Pate 


CHAP  IV.— DIETARIES. 


Importance  of  the  subject — ill  effects  of  prison  dietaries— quantity  of  food  required 
subject  to  variation — Captain  Parry's  opinion — fatigue,  hard  labor,  and  term 
of  imprisonment,  are  modifying  circumstances. — Mental  influence  in  scurvy — 
— variety  of  food  necessary — uses  of  nitrogenized  and  ,non-nitrogenized 
foods 222—226 

1.  Dietaries  for  Children.    Children  require   food  more   frequently  than   adults — 

why — fondness  for  sugar— errors  in  the  dieting  of  children — consequences  on 
them  of  defective  nutriment. — Dietaries  of  the  Foundling  Hospital,  the  Royal 
Military  Asylum,  the  Naval  Asylum,  tJie  Infant  Orphan  Asylum,  Mr.  Aubin's 
Establishment  at  Norwood,  the  Hospice  des  Enfans  Trouves  and  Hospices  des 
Incurables  in  Paris,  and  the  Merchants'  Seamen' s  Orphan  Asylum  -  -  -  226 — 232 

2.  Dietary  for  the  Naval  Service.     Scale  of  Diet  used  in  the^Navy — error  in  the  scale 

of  equivalents  adopted — Water  used  in  the  navy.  Scale  of  Victualling,  of 
Troovsfrom  England  to  India,  and  Dietary  for  Emigrants  ....  232 236 

3.  Army  Rations      ....... 236 

* 

4.  Dietaries  for  Paupers.    The  six  dietaries  of  the  Poor  Law  Commissioners — com- 

parative view  of  them. — Soup,  Gruel,  and  Suet  Puddings,  used  in  poor- 
houses.— Loss  in  cooking  and  serving  meat 236—242 

5.  Dietaries  for  Prisoners.     Conclusions  of  the  Inspectors  of  prisons — Dissent  of 

Mr.  Hill — Instructions  issued  by  the  Secretary  of  State — Dietaries  ordered 
to  be  used  in  prisons  in  England  and  Wales — comparative  view  of  them — 
objections  raised  to  them — reply 242 — 246 

6.  Dietaries  for    the   Sick.      General    observations  —  natural   instincts    too    often 

thwarted.  1.  Full,  Common,  or  Meat  Diet.  2.  Animal  Diet — diabetes — effects 
of  animal  diet  on  it.  3.  Vegetable  Diet.  4.  Spare  or  Abstemious  Diet.  5.  Fe- 
ver Diet.  6.  Low  Diet.  7.  Milk  Diet.  8.  Dry  Diet.— Dietaries  of  the  Metro- 
politan Hospitals. — London  Hospital — Si.  Bartholomew's  Hospital — Guy's  Hos- 
pital— St.  Thomas's  Hospital — St.  George's  Hospital — Westminster  Hospital — 
Middlesex  Hospital — King's  College  Hospital — North  London  Hospital — Dread- 
nought Hospital  Ship. — Dr.  Carpenter's  observations  on  the  dietaries  of  English 
Hospitals — reply  thereto. — Dietaries  of  the  Royal  Naval  Hospitals,  the  Marine 
Infirmaries,  and  the  Royal  Ordnance  Hospitals  _-------  246 — 255 

7.  Dietaries  for  the  Insane.     Dr.  Conolly's  observations  thereon — cases  of  refusal  of 

food. — Dietaries  of  the  Hanwell  Lunatic  Asylum,  Belhlem  Hospital,  and  St. 
Luke's  Hospital 255—257 

8.  Dietaries  for   Puerperal   Women.     Dietaries  'of  the   City  of  London. — Lying-in 

Hospital  and  General  Lying-in  Hospital,  Westminster 257 


xvi  CONTENTS. 


CHAP.  V— ON  THE  DIETETICAL  REGIMEN  SUITED  FOR  DISOR- 
DERED STATES   OF  THE   DIGESTIVE   ORGANS. 

General  observations  thereon.     Division  of  the  subject 257 

1.  Cookery  of  Foods.     Boiling,   Roasting,  Broiling,  Baking,   and  Frying. — Relative 

influence  of  these  processes  on  the  digestibility  of  food 258 — 259 

2.  Times  of  Eating.     General  precepts  thereon  ............    259 

3.  Quantity  of  Food  taken  at  one  Meal.     To  be  judged  of  by  the  feelings — satisfac- 

tion, not  satiety,  to  be  produced 259—260 

4.  Conduct  before,  at,  and  after  eating.     Circumstances  affecting  digestion       -     -     -     260 

5.  Nature  and  Quality  of  the  Food  eaten.     Relative  value  of  animal  and  vegetable 

diet — bulk  of  food — soifcd  and  liquid  food — acidity  of  stomach,  what  induced 
by — lactic  acid — fatty  acids — fatty  fermentation. — Bread,  biscuits,  pastry,  pud- 
dings, pancakes. — Butcher's  meat. — Venison  and  rabbits. — Birds. — Fish. — Shell- 
fish.— Potatoes,  the  cabbage  tribe,  peas,  beans. — The  oily  seeds. — Fleshy  fruits. 
— Drinks,  aqueous,  malt  liquor,  wine,  weak  spirit,  tea,  coffee,  chocolate,  cocoa. 
—Condiments.— Conclusion 260—263 

APPENDIX       -    *  - 265 


i 


ON 


FOOD  AND  DIET. 


PART  I.— OF  FOODS. 


THE  substances  employed  by  man  as  food  consist  of  certain  compound  bodies  termed 
Alimentary  Principles,  which,  by  their  mixture  or  union,  constitute  our  ordinary  foods : 
these,  for  the  sake  of  distinction,  I  shall  denominate  Compound  Aliments. 

Thus  meat  (a  compound  aliment)  consists  principally  of  fibrine,  albumen,  gelatine, 
haBmatosin,  fat,  and  water,  (alimentary  principles.)  Wheat  (a  compound  aliment)  is 
composed  of  starch,  gluten,  sugar,  and  gum,  (alimentary  principles.) 

Alimentary  principles  are  themselves  compound  substances.  They  consist  of  two, 
three,  four,  or  more,  simple  or  undecompounded  bodies,  usually  denominated  elements. 
These  are  the  Chemical  Elements,  or  Elementary  Constituents  of  Foods. 

Thus  fibrine  (an  alimentary  principle)  is  composed  of  carbon,  hydrogen,  nitrogen, 
oxygen,  phosphorus,  and  sulphur,  (chemical  elements.)  Gum  (an  alimentary  principle) 
consists  of  carbon,  hydrogen,  and  oxygen,  (chemical  elements.) 

I  propose,  therefore,  to  consider  successively — 

1.  The  Chemical  Elements  of  Foods. 

2.  Alimentary  Principles. 

3.  Compound  Aliments. 

CHAP.  L— Of  the  Chemical  Elements  of  Foods. 

Those  bodies  from  which  chemists  have  hitherto  failed  to  extract  other  substances  of 
entirely  different  properties,  are  denominated  Simple  or  Undecompounded  Bodies,  or 
Chemical  Elements. 

At  the  present  time,  fifty-five*  such  bodies  are  known.  Arranged  alphabetically,  fiey 
are  as  follows  : — 

CHEMICAL  ELEMENTS. 


1.  Aluminum 

2.  Antimony  (Stibium) 

3.  Arsenicum 

4.  Barium     . 

5.  Bismuth   . 

6.  Boron 

7.  Bromine  . 

8.  Cadmium 

9.  Calcicm 
10.  Carbon 


*  A  fifty-sixth  element,  called  Didym,  has  been  recently  announced.  It  is  a  metal  which  is  found 
along  with  Cerium  and  Lanthanium.  (Poggendorff's  Annakn  der  Physik  und  Chemie,  vol.  xlvi.  No.  7,  p. 
503.) 


Equivalent 

Equivalent 

or 

or 

Combining  Pro- 

Combining Pro- 

portion. 

pOTtlO7l» 

ydrogen=l)        Symbol. 

(Hydrogen=l)     Symbol. 

10        Al 

11.  Cerium 

46        Ce 

65        An  or  Sb 

12.  Chlorine 

t 

36        Cl 

38        Ar  or  As 

13.  Chromium 

28        Cr 

69        Ba 

14.  Cobalt 

30        Co 

72        Bi 

15    Columbium  (Tanta 

wwi;  . 

185        Ta 

10        Bo 

78        Br 

16    Copper  (Cuprum) 
17.  Fluorine 

32        Cu 
19        F 

56        Cd 

18.  Glucinum 

27        G 

20        Ca 

19.  Gold  (Aurum) 

200        Au 

6        C 

20.  Hydrogen 

. 

1        H 

J. 

ELEMENTS  OF  FOODS. 

i 

CHEMICAL  ELEMENTS.  —  Continued. 

Equivalent 

Equivalent 

or 

or 

Combining  Pro- 

Combining Pro- 

portion. 

portion. 

21.  Iodine       . 

(Hydrogen=l)     Symbol. 
.      126        I          39.  Rhodium 

(Hydiogen=l)     Svmbol. 

22.  Iridiurr,     . 

98        Ir         40.  Selenium 

40        Se 

23.  Iron  (Ferrum) 

.        28        Fe        41.  Silicon 

8        Si 

24.   1  aiuhiimuin 

?        La        42.  Silver  (Argentum] 

108        Ag 

25.  Load  (Plumbum) 

104        PI        43.  Sodium  (Narium 

24        N 

26.  Lithium    . 

.  •       8        Li         44.  Strontium 

44        Sr 

27.  Magnesium 

12        Ma       45.  Sulphur 

16        S 

28.  Manganese 

28        Mn       46.  Tellurium 

64        Te 

29.  Mercury  (Hyd  argyrum)         .      202        Hg       47.  Thorium 
30.  Molybdenum                    .        .        48        Mo       48.  Tin  (Stannum) 

60        Th 

58        Nn 

31.  Nickel 

29        Ni        49.  Titanium 

24        Ti 

31.  Nitrogen 

14        N          50.  Tungsten  (Wolfram, 

95        W 

33    Osmium 

.       100        Os        51.  Uranium 

63        U 

34.  Oxygen 

8        O          52.  Vanadium       . 

217        V 

35.  Palladium 

54        Pd        53.  Yttrium 

32        Y 

36.  Phosphorus 

16        P          54.  Zinc 

32        Zu 

37.  Platinum 

99        PI          55.  Zirconium      . 

33        Zr 

33.  Potassium  (Kahum) 

40        K 

; 

As  far  as  we  have   at 

present  ascertained, 

these  are  the  substances  which  constitute 

the  elements  of  all  known  bodies,  (mineral  and  organized.) 

It  has  long  been  suspected  that  many  of  these  supposed  elementary  bodies  are  them- 

selves compounded.*     The  suspicion  has  arisen  from  the  analogies 

which  exist  between 

some  of  the  undecompounded  substances,  (especially  the  metals  ;)    z 

is  well  as  from  the 

difficulty  of  accounting 

for  the  presence  of  several  of  the  so-called  elements  found  in  or- 

ganized  beings.    But  though  it  may  be  well  founded,  yet  chemists 

have  agreed  to  cal. 

those  substances  simple 

or  elementary  which  have  hitherto  resisted  every  attempt  to  resolve 

them  into  other  and  simpler  parts  ;   and,  therefore,  when  the  phrase  element  or  simple 

body  is  used,  we  merely 

mean  a  substance  which  no  one,  as  yet,  has  been  able  to  <le- 

compose. 

Of  the  fifty-five  above  mentioned  elementary  substances,  there  have  been  found  in  Or- 

ganized Bodies  about  nineteen  only  ;  these  are  arranged  alphabetically  in  the  following 

table  :— 

CHEMICAL  ELEMENTS  OF  ORGANIZED  OR  LIVING  BODll 

1.  Carbon 

6.  Sulphur 

11.  Fluorine 

16.  Iron 

2.  Hydrogen 

7.  Silicon 

1J    Potassium 

17.  Manganese 

3.  Oxygen 

8.  Chlorine 

13.  Sodium 

18.  Aluminum 

4.  Nitrogen 
5.  Phosphorus 

9.  Iodine 
10.  Bromine 

14.  Calcium 
15.  Magnesium 

19.  Copper? 

Though  I  have  included   Copper  as  an  clement  of  organized  bodies,  in  consequence  of 

,    its  having  been  found 

in  them  by  several  chemists,  f  it  is,  probably,  only  an  accidental 

*Some  interesting  observations  on  this  subject  will 

be  found  in  Sir  H.  Davy's  Elements  of  Chtm;ral 

Philosophy^.  473,  et  seq.     London,  1812—  See  also  Berzelius's  Traite  de  Chimie,  t.  ii.  p.  263.      Paris, 

1830. 

Very  recently  it  has  been 

asserted  mat  carbon  is  convertible  into  silicon,  (Dr. 

Sam.  H.  Brown,  Trans- 

actions  of  the  Royal  Society  of  Edinburgh,  for  1841  ;)  but  the  assertion  has  not  been  corroborated  by  sub- 

sequent experiments. 

t  Copper  has  been  detected  in  plants  by  Bischoff,  (De  Candolle,  PhysioJrgie  Vegetale,  t.  i.  p.  389.) 

Meissner,  (Ann.  de  Chim.  et  de  Phys.  t.  iv.  p.  106,)  and 

by  Sarzet.u,  (Art/j.  de  Chim.  ct  de  Phyt.  t.  xlix.  p 

334.)     The  last  mentioned  chemist  also  found  it  in  the 

blood  of  ar.imals. 

ELEMENTS  OF  THE  FOOD  OF  MAN. 


constituent.  Gkld,*  and,  more  recently,  Lead\  and  Arsenicum^  have  been  declared  10 
be  constituents  of  organized  bodies  ;  but  there  is  reason,  I  think,  to  suspect  some  error  in 
the  observations. 

A  living  body  has  no  power  of  forming  elements,  or  of  converting  one  elementary  sub- 
stance into  another  ;$  and  it  therefore  follows  that  the  elements  of  which  the  body  of  an 
animal  is  composed  must  be  the  elements  of  its  food. 

The  essential  constituents  of  the  human  body  are  thirteen  ;  and  the  same,  therefore, 
must  be  the  elements  of  our  food.|| 


CHEMICAL  ELEMENTS  OF  THE  FOOD  OF  MAN. 


1.  Carbon 

2.  Hydrogen 

3.  Oxygen 


5.  Phosphorus 

6.  Sulphur 

7.  Iron 


8.  Chlorine 

9.  Sodium 
10,  Calcium 


11.  Potassium 

12.  Magnesiutr 

13.  Fluorine 


4.  Nitrogen 

These  substances  I  now  proceed  to  notice  individually 

1.  CARBON. — In  the  pure  and  crystallized  state,  carbon  constitutes  the  diamond,  a  sub- 

*  Several  distinguished  chemists  have  asserted  the  existence  of  gold  in  vegetables,  (Chaptal,  Elements 
of  Chemistry,  vol.  ii.  p.  442.) 

t  According  to  Devergie,  (Journal  de  Chimie  Medicale,  t.  iv.  2de  Serie,  p.  591,  1833,)  lead  and  copper 
are  constituents  of  the  bodies  of  man  and  other  animals. 

t  Orfila  (Journ.  de  Chim.  Med.  t.  v.  2de  Ser.  p.  632,  1839)  asserts,  that  arsenicum  is  a  constituent  of  the 
bones  of  man  and  other  animals.  But  Dr.  G.  O.  Rees,  (Guy's  Hospital  Reports,  No.  xii.,)  Messrs.  Dan- 
ger and  Flandrin,  and  the  Commissioners  appointed  by  the  French  Academy  of  Sciences,  (Journal  de 
Pliarmacie,  t.  xxiv.  p.  428,  Juillet,  1841,)  have  repeated  his  experiments  without  detecting  it. 

$  Dr.  Prout  (Phil.  Trans.  1822,  p.  377)  asserts,  that  the  lime  found  in  the  skeleton  of  the  chick  when 
it  quits  the  shell,  did  not  pre-exist  in  the  recent  egg;  so  that  the  only  possible  sources  whence  it  could 
oe  derived  are  the  shell  and  transmutation  from  other  substances  supposed  to  be  elementary.  But  as  the 
membrane  in  contact  with  the  shell  is  never  vascular,  and  as  both  the  alhumen  and  yolk  contain,  at  the 
end  of  incubation,  a  considerable  quantity  of  earthy  matter,  which  it  is  to  be  supposed  would  have 
been  appropriated  to  the  bone  in  preference  to  that  derived  from  a  remote  source,  Dr.  Prout  doubts 
whether  the  origin  or  source  of  the  lime  is  referable  to  the  shell.  Indeed,  it  is  tolerably  clear,  that  he 
believes  in  the  capability  of  the  vital  energies  to  effect  the  transmutation  of  some  of  the  so-called  ele- 
ments ;  and  in  a  more  recent  work,  (On  the  Nature  and  Treatment  of  Stomach  and  Urinary  Diseases,  p. 
ixxvi.  3d  edit.  1840,)  he  expresses  himself  more  decidedly  on  this  point.  "  Some  imagine,"  he  observes, 
"  that  the  mineral  incidental  principles  of  organized  beings  are  generated  during  the  vital  process ; 
while  others  maintain  that  they  are  derived  06  externo.  My  belief  is,  that,  under  certain  extraordinary 
circumstances,  the  vital  agents  can  form  what  we  now  consider  as  elements  ;  but  that,  in  ordinary,  such 
elements  are  chiefly  derived  ab  externo,  in  conjunction  with  the  alimentary  principles ;"  and  in  another 
part  of  the  same  work  (p.  xxix.)  he  speaks  of  the  assimilating  organs  being  able,  under  extraordinary 
circumstances,  "  to  decompose  principles  which  are  still  considered  as  elementary  ;  nay,  to  form  azote 
or  carbon." 

These  opinions,  however  well  founded,  in  no  way  affect  the  accuracy  of  the  proposition  which  1  have 
above  laid  down  in  the  text ;  for  Dr.  Prout  himself,  in  his  Bridgewater  Treatise  (Chemistry,  Meteorology, 
and  the  Function  of  Digestion  considered  with  reference  to  Natural  Theology,  p.  431,  1834)  lays  down  a 
similar  one.  "No  organic  agent,"  he  says,  "  has  the  power  either  of  creating  material  elements,  or  of 
changing  one  such  element  into  another."  His  opinions  merely  affect  the  question  of  the  elementary 
nature  of  some  of  the  substances  which  chemists  have  not  hitherto  been  able  to  decompose.  '  At  p.  432  • 
of  the  last  quoted  work,  he  observes,  that "  while  it  is  thus  denied  that  organized  beings  possess  the  power, 
either  to  create  or  to  change,  in  the  strict  acceptance  of  these  terms  ;  it  has  b«en  admitted  to  be  exceed- 
ingly probable,  that  the  organic  agent  is,  within  certain  limits,  qualified  to  compose  and  decompose 
many  substances  which  are  now  viewed  as  elements  ;  and  that  the  organic  agent  does  thus  arparently 
form  and  transmute  these  imagined  elements." 

II  Traces  of  manganese  have  been  detected  in  the  blood ;  but  I  have  not  included  this  metal  as  an 
essential  constituent  of  the  human  system.  In  some  countries,  silicious  and  aluminous  substances  are 
eaten,  but  they  can  scarcely  be  denominated  aliments  ;  and  I  have  not,  therefore,  inserted  silicon  and 


ELEMENTS  OF  FOODS. 


stance  which  Sir  D.  Brewster  *  suspects  to  be  of  vegetable  origin.  In  its  more  familiar 
but  impure  forms,  carbon  constitutes  plumbago  (graphite  or  black-lead)  and  charcoal,  (ani- 
mal and  vegetable.)  The  last  mentioned  substance  is  always  contaminated  with  various 
earthy  bodies  derived  from  the  organic  matter  from  which  the  charcoal  was  made.  Thus 
animal  charcoal  obtained  from  bones,  and  known  as  bone  black,  contains  on'y  ten  per  cent, 
of  carbon. 

COMPOSITION  OF  BONE  BLACK. 

10-1 
!  88-0 


Carbon        .... 
Phosphate  of  Lime     . 
Carbonate  of  Lime 
Carburet  or  Silicet  of  Iron 
Sulphuret  of  Calcium,  or  Iron 


2-C 
traces 


Animal  Charcoal  or  Bone  Blackt 


100-0 


Vegetable  Charcoal,  obtained  from  wood,  contains  a  much  larger  proportion  of  carbon. 
COMPOSITION  Qf  VEGETABLE  CHARCOAL. 


Carbon         .... 
Volatile  matter    . 
Calcined  ashes    . 

Thorn. 

Poplar. 

Maple. 

Ash. 

Aspen. 

Spindle. 

88-0 
9-6 
2-4 

85-6 
13-4 
1-0 

85-2 
13-8 
1-0 

83-2 
15-0 
1-8 

82-0 
15-0 
3-0 

82-8 
15-6 
1-6 

Vegetable  CharcoalJ   . 

100-0 

100-0 

1000 

100-0 

100-0 

100-0 

Carbon  is  an  essential  constituent  of  every  living  or  organized  tissue,  both  vegetable 
and  animal.  It  is,  therefore,  a  necessary  ingredient  of  food  ;  and  nature  has  accordingly 
supplied  it  in  the  aliment  which  she  has  provided  for  all  living  beings  in  the  early  stage 
of  their  existence.  Thus  it  is  an  element  of  the  organic  substances  composing  seeds, 
and  from  which  the  embryo  plant  derives  its  first  nutriment.  The  yolk  of  eggs,  (the  food 
of  the  embryo  chick,)  and  milk,  on  which  young  mammals  subsist  during  the  first  period 
of  their  existence  after  birth,  also  contain  it. 

The  quantity  of  it  which  is  contained  in  different  foods  is  as  follows  : — 


C.   NON-NlTROGENIZED: 


QUANTITY  OF  CARBON  IN  FOODS. 

1. — Alimentary  Principle*. 


Per-centage,  by  weight, 


{Anhydrous  Cane  Sugar 47-05 

Sugar  Candy 42-1 

Sugar  of  Milk 40-0 

Graipe  Sugar  (from  Honey)      ....  36-36 


Authority.  § 
Pehgot. 

Front  &  Liebig. 
Prout. 


aluminum  among  the  elements  of  the  food  of  man.  "  The  negroes  of  Guinea,  the  Javanese,  the  New 
Caledonians,  and  many  South  American  tribes,  eat  clay  as  a  luxury,"  (EJliotson's  Human  Physiology, 
p.  63,  1840.)  The  Otomacks,  a  savage  race  on  the  banks  of  the  Orinoco,  appease  their  hunger  for  two 
or  three  months,  according  to  Humboldt,  by  distending  their  stomachs  with  clay.  The  fossil  farina, 
which,  according  to  Stanislas  Julien,  (Comptes  Rendus,  1841,  2  Semest.  p.  358,)  is  used  in  China,  in  times 
of  great  scarcity,  as  a  food,  contains  13-2  per  cent,  of  organic  matter,  (Payen,  Ibid.  p.  480,)  and  may, 
therefore,  possess  some  slightly  nutritive  qualities. 

*  Edinburgh  Philosophical  Journal,  vol.  iii.  p.  98 ;  and  Philosophical  Magazine,  vol.  i.  p.  147      1827. 

t  Dumas,  Traite  de  Chimie  applique  aux  Arts,  t.  i.  p.  450. 

$  Berthier,  Traite  des  Essaispar  la  voie  seche,  i.  i.  p.  286. 

§  The  analyses  of  Liebig,  Scherer,  Jones,  Playfair,  and  Boeckmann,  alluded  to  in  this  table,  arc  taken 


CARBON. 

5 

Per-centage,  by  weight, 

Authority. 

of  Carbon. 

f  Wheat  Starch 

375 

Prout. 

4      .                   ]  Ditto  dried  at  350°  Fahr 

440 

Ditto. 

|  Arrow  Root         '   . 

Ditto. 

t  Ditto,  highly  dried  at  212°  Fahr.    .       .       .    44.4 

Ditto. 

Gum  Arabic 

.     363 

Ditto 

ll'icilaginous         Ditto,  dried  at  212°  Fahr.  ...                  41.4 

Ditto. 

Ditto,  dried  at  240°  Fahr.  . 

45.1 

Mulder. 

'Pet-tine  (from  Sweet  Apples)  .       .                  45.198 

Mulder. 

Vegetable  Jelly       Ditto  (from  Sour  Apples) 

.      .                  45.853 

Fremy. 

Dilto  (in  Pectinate  of  Lead) 

.       .                  43.5 

'Acetic  Acid    (anhydrous)  . 

.      .                  47.06 

Acidulous              (  ilr'c  Aci(I  (hypothetical  or 

iry)    .                  43.63 

j  Ditto   (commercial  crystals) 
[Tartario  Acid    (anhydrous) 

.       .                  34.29 
36.36 

Alcoholic     .       .     Alcohol      .... 

52  18 

f  Butter         

.      .                 65.6 

Berard. 

()j    „-       .         j  Mutton  Fat       .... 

.      .      .           78.996 

Chevreul. 

o/l-CtZ^  f7lfl//»N                     ^      |  ^fr'^.     I"   rtr>t] 

79098 

Ditto. 

[  Olive  Oil 

7775 

Calculated  from  Saussur^ 

b.  NITROGEN  i  ZEU: 

'Animal  Albumen  (from  Eggs)         .        .       .     55.000 

Scherer. 

55002 

Ditto 

ivr;iL-\                   tij  QO£ 

ProtemeCom-       Vegetable  Albumen  (from  Wheat)  '             '.     55.oT" 
pou                     Fibrine     54.617 

.Ditto. 
Jones. 
Scherer. 

54  133 

Oi  ttf\ 

Gluten  (from  Wheat 

5522 

JL/1  LLO. 

Jones. 

Tendons  of  Calves'  Feet 

50  960 

Scherer 

Gelatinous     .         Isinglass            .... 

.    50.557 

Ditto. 

Cartilages  of  Calves'  ribs  (chondrine)  .       .     50.895 

Ditto 

2.  —  Compound  Aliments. 

a.  VEGETABLE  : 

Wheat  (dried  in  vacuo  at  230°  Fahr.) 
Oats  rditto)             

46.1 
50.7 

Boussingavut. 
Ditto. 

Rye  (ditto)              

46.2 

Ditto. 

Potatoes          .        .        .        .        . 

12.2598 

Ditto. 

Ditto  (dried  in  vacuo  at  230°  Fahr.) 

44.0 

Ditto. 

Turnips          

3.217 

Ditto. 

Ditto  (dried  in  vacuo  at  230°  Fahr.) 

42.9 

Ditto. 

Jerusalem  Artichoke  (ditto) 

43.3 

Ditto. 

Peas        

35.743 

Playfair. 

Ditto  (dried  in  vacuo  at  230°  Fahr.) 
Lentils            .                          ... 

46.5 
37.33 

Boussingault 
Playfair. 

Beans             .                          ... 

38.24 

Ditto. 

Fresh  Bread           

30.15 

Liebig. 

Black  Bread  (dried  at  210°) 

45.41 

Bceckmann. 

6.  ANIMAL  : 

OxBiood       .                .... 

10.392  ) 

Playfair  and 

Ditto  (dried)   

51.96    < 

Bo3ckmann 

Fresh  Meat  (devoid  of  fat)     . 

13.6 

Liebig. 

Ditto  (with  l-7th  fat  and  celhilar  tissue) 

21.75 

Ditto. 

Dry  muscular  Flesh  (Beef)    . 

51.89 

Bceckmann. 

Roasted  Flesh  (Roe  Deer)     . 

52.60 

Ditto. 

Ditto  (Beef)   

52.59 

Playfair. 

Ditto  (Veal)  

52.52 

Ditto. 

Soup  of  the  House  of  Arrest  at  Gies_on 

0.46348 

Liebig. 

The  quantity  of  carbon  consumed,  in  the  form  of  food,  by  different  individuals  and  at 
different  times,  is  subject  to  very  considerable  variation.     Age,  sex,  peculiaiities,  (indi- 

from  Liebig' s  Ammal  Chemistry,  (London,  1842.)  Those  of  Boussingault,  are  taken  from  his  papers  in 
the  Annales  de  Ckimie  el  de  Physique,  (t.  Ixiii.,  Ixvii.,  Ixix.,  and  Ixxi.) — The  results  of  Mulder's  analysis  of 
pectine,  I  have  taken  from  the  Pharmaceutisches  Central-Blattfur  1833,  (p.  338;)  those  of  Fremy's  analy- 
sis of  the  same  substance  from  the  Journal  de  Pharmacie,  (t.  xxvi.  p.  373.)  Prout's  experiments  were 
published  in  the  Philosophical  Transactions  for  1827.  I  have  taken  the  results  of  Berard's  anc  Chev- 
reul's  analyses  from  L.  Gmelin's  Handbuch  der  theorelischen  Chemie,  (vol.  ii.  p.  439.) 


ELEMENTS  OF  FOODS. 


vidual  or  national,)  temperature  and  density  of  the  air,  occupation,  (laborious  or  inac- 
tive,) and  amount  of  clothing,  are  among  the  circumstances  which  produce  these  diversi- 
ties. 

"  From  the  accurate  determination  of  the  quantity  of  carbon  daily  taken  into  the  sys- 
tem in  the  food,  as  well  as  of  that  proportion  of  it  which  passes  out  of  the  body  in  the 
faeces  and  urine,  unburned — that  is,  in  some  form  in  which  it  is  not  combined  with 
oxygen — it  appears  that  an  adult,  taking  moderate  exercise,  consumes  13*9  oz.  [Hes- 
sian=15'3  oz.  avoirdupois]  of  carbon  daily.* 

Liebig's  statement  is  based  on  observations  made  on  the  average  daily  consumption  of 
food  by  from  27  to  30  soldiers,  of  the  Body  Guard  of  the  Grand  Duke  of  Hesse  Darm- 
stadt in  barracks,  for  a  month,  or  by  855  men  for  one  day.  I  have  drawn  up  the  follow- 
ing table  from  his  statements,  and  converted  the  Hessian  weights  into  avoirdupois 
weights. 


Kinds  of  Food. 

Avoirdupois 
of  Food 

weight 

Avoirdupois 
of  Carb 

weight 
on. 

Ordinary  meat  containing  l-7th 
of  fat  and  cellular  tissue 
Fat  or  Lard 
Lentils 
Peas    . 
Beans 
Potatoes      . 
Bread 

Ibs.          oz. 
|      306         4 

3      13 
3      10 
12      12 
15        0 
1093        2 
1923        9 

gn. 
186 

304-5 
412 
161 
76 
357 
214-5 

Iba.        oz 
66         9 
3        1 

|        11       10 

133        5 
603      15 

gre. 
397-5 
156-1 

131-2 

374-2 
300-5 

Total  for  855  men  for  one  day 
Average  for  one  man  for  one 
day          .... 

3358        5 
|         3      14 

398-5 
370-5 

818      11 
0      15 

46 
140 

In  addition  to  the  above,  the  855  men  consumed, 


Of  Green  Vegetables  (Cabbages,  Greens,  Turnips,  &c.) 

Of  Sourkrout 

Of  Onions,  Leeks,  Celery,  &c 

Total  for  855  men  for  one  day 
Average  for  one  man  for  one  day 


lb.  oz.       crs- 

192  15       15 

110  2  325 

26  11  203-5 

326  6  55 

0  6  635 


it  also  appears,  from  an  approximate  report  of  the  serjeant-major,  that  each  soldier 
consumed  daily,  on  an  average,  out  of  the  barracks,  the  following  quantities  of  other 
foods : — 


Sausages 
Butter 
Beer       . 
Brandy  . 


33-10oz. 
3-4  oz.  &  33 
5- 10  pint 
1-10  pint 


-3  gre. 


Avoirdupois 
weight. 


So  that  we  may  fairly  assume,  that  each  of  these  soldiers  consumed  daily  about  one 
pound  (avoirdupois)  of  carbon.  Now  if  we  suppose  that  while  under  experiment  he 
neither  gained  nor  lost  in  weight,  what,  it  may  be  asked,  became  of  the  carbon  thus  taken 
in  the  form  of  food "? 

I  shall  assume,  with  Liebig,  that  the  carbon  of  the  green  vegetables,  sourkrout,  and 
onions,  was  equal  to  that  of  the  faeces  and  the  urine,  and  shall  exclude  from  our  calcula- 


*  Liebig,  Animal  Chemistry,  or  Organic  Chemistry  .1  its  Applications  to  Physiology  and  Pathology, 
edited  by  Dr.  W.  Gregory,  p.  14.    Lond.  1842. 


CARBON. 


tion  the  carbon  of  the  small  quantity  of  food  (sausages,  butter,  beer,  and  brandy) 
taken  in  the  alehouse.  We  have,  therefore,  to  account  for  the  disposal  of  15  ozs.  140 
grs.  avoirdupois  (=6702$  grs.  troy)  of  carbon  ;  nearly  the  whole  of  which  quantity 
must  have  been  thrown  out  of  the  system  by  the  lungs  and  the  skin  in  the  form  of 
carbonic  acid. 

Now,  6  grs.  of  carbon  combine  with  16  grs.  of  oxygen,  and  form  22  grs.  of  carbonic  acid. 
Hence  6702$  grs.  troy  of  carbon  require  17.S40  grs.  of  oxygen  gas  to  yield  24,542J  grs. 
of  carbonic  acid  ;  and  this  quantity  of  oxygen  must,  therefore,  be  derived  from  the  air, 
either  by  the  lungs  or  skin,  or  by  both.  But  oxygen  is  also  consumed  in  the  system  in  the 
oxidation  of  hydrogen,  sulphur,  and  phosphorus,  and  this  quantity  also  must  be  derived 
from  the  same  source  (the  atmosphere)  and  by  the  same  means. 

The  quantity  of  oxygen  consumed,  and  of  carbonic  acid  produced,  in  respiration,  by 
an  adult  man,  in  twenty-four  hours,  has  been  variously  estimated  as  follows: — 


Consumption  of  Oxygen  and  Production  of  Carbonic  Acid  in  Respiration 
by  an  Adult  Man  in  24  hours. 

Oxygen  consumed. 

Carbonic  Acid 
produced. 

Carbon  contained 
in  the  Carbonic 
Acid. 

Cubic  In.       Grs. 
Lavoisier  &  Seguin  46037  or  15661 
Menzles     ....    51480  or  17625 
Davy    .         ...    45504  or  15751 
Allen  &  Pepys  .     .    39600  or  13464 
Coatbupe  .         •     .     

Cubic  In.         Grs. 
14930  or    8584 

31680  or  17811 
39600  or  18612 
17856          

2820  (French) 
(English) 
4853  (ditto) 
5148  (ditto) 
2616  (ditto) 

It  is  obvious  that  the  highest  of  these  estimates  is  below  the  quantity  of  oxygen  re- 
quired to  oxidate  the  carbon  consumed  by  the  Darmstadt  soldiers.  But  in  drawing  any 
conclusions  as  to  the  absolute  amount  of  oxygen  consumed  in  respiration,  we  must  not 
omit  to  consider  the  numerous  circumstances  which  interfere  with  the  results,  and  render 
it  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  obtain  a  correct  estimate.  The  management  of  the  ap- 
paratus, the  nicety  of  the  manipulation,  the  degree  of  muscular  exertion  employed,  the 
quantity  and  quality  of  the  food  consumed  by  the  individual  experimented  on,  the  state 
of  the  system,  and  various  other  circumstances,  concur  in  affecting  the  results. 

Moreover,  it  is  probable  that  the  skin  produces  on  the  air  changes  analogous  to  those 
effected  by  the  lungs :  that  is,  it  absorbs  oxygen,  and  evolves  carbonic  acid.  * 

Furthermore,  if  the  amount  of  carbonaceous  food  be  less  than  that  supplied  to  the 
Darmstadt  soldiers,  it  is  obvious  that  less  oxygen  will  be  required  to  oxidize  the  carbon. 
Now,  according  to  Liebig,  "prisoners  in  the  Bridewell  at  Marienschloss  (a  prison  where 
labor  is  enforced)  do  not  consume  more  than  10-5  oz.  [Hessian=lV568  avoirdupois]  of 
carbon  daily ;  those  in  the  House  of  Arrest  at  Giessen,  who  are  deprived  of  all  exercise, 
consume  only  9  oz. f  [Hessian=9'9  avoirdupois;)  and  in  a  family  well  known  to  me, 
consisting  of  nine  individuals,  five  adults,  and  four  children  of  different  ages,  the  aver- 
age daily  consumption  of  carbon  for  each  is  not  more  than  95  oz.  (Hessian  =1046 
avoirdupois)  of  carbon.  We  may  safely  assume,  as  an  approximation,  that  the  quanti- 
ties of  oxygen  consumed  in  these  different  cases  are  in  the  ratio  of  these  numbers.' 


*  See  Bostock's  Elementary  System  of  Physiology,  vol.  ii.  p.  237,  et  sty.    Lond.  1826. 

t  At  p.  36  of  the  English  translation  of  Liebig's  Animal  Chemistry,  it  is  stated  that  8-5  oz.  of  carbon 
are  consumed  :  but  at  p.  293,  the  translator  has  given  reasons  for  believing  that  the  quantity  should  be 
9oz. 


8  ELEMENTS  OF  FOODS. 

Ten  ounces  avoirdupois  or  4375  grs.  troy  of  carbon  combine  with  11666P6  grs.  troy 
of  oxygen,  and  thereby  form  16041-6  grs.  of  carbonic  acid. 

By  the  union  of  carbon  with  oxygen,  in  whatever  part  of  the  system  this"  is  effected, 
heat  must  be  evolved.  At  least,  in  all  other  cases,  the  formation  of  carbonic  acid  is 
attended  with  the  evolution  of  heat ;  and  we  have  a  right,  therefore,  to  assume,  that  the 
same  takes  place* within  the  body.  We  are,  in  fact,  acquainted  with  no  conceivable 
reason  why  it  should  be  otherwise.  Now,  according  to  Despretz,*  one  pound  of  pure 
charcoal  evolves,  by  its  combustion  in  oxygen  gas,  sufficient  heat  to  raise  the  tempera- 
ture of  781os.  of  water  from  32°  Fahr.  to  212°  Fahr. ;  and  this  must  be  about  the  amount 
evolved  in  the  cas3  of  the  Darmstadt  soldiers,  independently  of  the  heat  produced  by 
the  union  of  oxygen  with  hydrogen  hereafter  to  be  noticed. 

It  appears  to  me  that  we  have  a  sufficient  explanation  of  animal  temperature  in  the 
chemical  changes  just  referred  to.  Indeed,  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  a  large  proportion, 
if  not  the  whole,  of  the  heat  evolved  by  animals,  is  produced  by  chemical  action.  But 
it  is  scarcely  to  be  expected  that  experiments  can  be  so  nicely  and  delicately  performed 
as  to  demonstrate  in  a  precise  manner  the  truth  of  this  chemical  theory  of  animal  heat : 
for  while,  on  the  one  hand,  considerable  difficulty  is  experienced  in  determining  the  actu- 
al quantity  of  combustible  matter  oxidated  in  the  system,  it  is  almost  impossible,  on  the 
other,  to  estimate,  with  absolute  nicety,  the  amount  of  heat  actually  imparted  by  a  living 
animal  to  surrounding  bodies.  The  results  of  our  experiments,  therefore,  can  only  fur- 
nish, at  the  most,  approximations  to  the  truth,  f 

Liebig  lias  endeavored  to  show,  that  by  the  conversion  of  starch  or  sugar  into  fat, 
oxygen  is  supplied  to  the  system ;  and  that  by  the  union  of  this  disengaged  oxygen  with 
carbon  (from  the  bile,  for  example)  heat  is  developed.  Suppose  1  equivalent  of  carbonic 
acid,  CO,  and  7  equivalents  of  oxygen,  O7,  to  be  abstracted  from  1  equivalent  of  starch, 
C13  UK,  O,o,  we  have,  in  the  residue,  the  empirical  formula  for  fat,  Cn  II10  O. 

RELATIVE  COMPOSITION  OF  STARCH  AND  FAT. 


1  eq.  Starch    .    .    Cu  Hw  OJO 


1  eq.  Fat     .....     C,,  II10  O 
1  eq.  Carbonic  Acid  C  O» 

7  eq.  Oxygen      ...  Or 


O 


The  oxygen  thus  presumed  to  be  separated  from  the  starch,  can  only  be  disengaged  in 
the  form  of  either  carbonic  acid  or  water,  or  of  both;  therefore  it  must  have  combined 
with  carbon  or  hydrogen,  or  both.J  Now,  Liebig  has  adduced  several  reasons  for  pr 
ins:  that  hrat  must  attend  the  formation  of  carbonic  acid  under  these  circumstances. 
"Thus,"  says  this  distinguished  chemist,  "in  the  formation  of  fat,  the  vital  force  pos- 
sesses a  means  of  counteracting  a  deficiency  in  the  supply  of  oxygen,  and  consequently 
in  that  of  the  heat  indispensable  for  the  vital  process. 

In  the  natural  and  healthy  condition  of  the  system,  the  food  supplies  the  necessary 
carbon  for  the  support  of  animal  heat,  but  when  food  is  withheld,  the  fat  of  the  body  is 
consumed  ;  its  carbon  being  converted  into  carbonic  acid,  its  hydrogen  into  water.  Ex- 
perience has  satisfactorily  shown  that  the  heat  of  the  blood  in  health  is  the  same  in  all 
climates  and  in  all  conditions  of  atmospheric  temperature.  Now  it  follows  that  a  'arger 

*  Graham,  Elements  of  Chemistry,  p.  250 

t  Despretz  observes,  that  in  none  of  his  experiments  did  resplratiori  produce  less  than  7-10ths,  nor 
more  than  9-10ths  of  the  whole  heat  emitted  by  the  animal,  (Ann.  de  Chimie  el  Physiq.  t.  xxvi.  p.  361, 
1824.)  See  also  Dulong's  paper  in  the  Mtm.  de  VAcad.  Royale  des  Sciences,  t.  xviii.  p.  327, 

t  For  some  objections  to  these  views  of  Liebig,  see  note  on  page  27. — L. 


CARBON.  9 


quantity  of  combustible  matter  is  required  in  cold  climates  and  cold  weather,  for  keeping 
up  this  temperature,  than  in  hot  climates  and  warm  weather ;  since  a  greater  amount  of 
,ieat  must  be  given  off  to  surrounding  media  in  the  former  than  in  the  latter.  Hence  the 
necessity  for  a  more  liberal  supply  of  food  in  cold  weather.  "  He  who  is  well  fed,"  ob- 
serves Sir  John  Ross,*  "  resists  cold  better  than  the  man  who  is  stinted,  while  the 
starvation  from  cold  follows  but  too  soon  a  starvation  in  food.  This,  doubtless,  explains 
in  a  great  measure  the  resisting  powers  of  the  natives  of  these  frozen  climates ;  their 
consumption  of  food,  it  is  familiar,  being  enormous,  and  often  incredible."f  Moreover, 
it  is  obvious  that  the  foods  which,  theoretically,  appear  to  be  best  suited  for  the  inhabit- 
ants of  these  colder  climates,  are  those  which  contain  the  largest  amount  of  carbon  and 
hydrogen,  viz.,  the  fats  and  oils,  which  contain  from  66  to  80  per  cent,  of  carbon.  The 
celebrated  traveller  just  quoted,  further  remarks,  "that  in  every  expedition  or  voyage  to 
a  polar  region,  at  least  if  a  winter  residence  is  contemplated,  the  quantity  of  food  should 
be  increased,  be  that  as  inconvenient  as  it  may.  It  would  be  very  desirable  indeed,  if 
the  men  could  acquire  the  taste  for  Greenland  food,  since  all  experience  has  shown  that 
the  large  use  of  oil  and  fat  meats  is  the  true  secret  of  life  in  these  frozen  countries,  and 
that  the  natives  cannot  subsist  without  it,  becoming  diseased,  and  dying,  with  a  more 
meager  diet." 

The  effect  of  cold  in  augmenting,  and  of  heat  in  diminishing  the  appetite  for  food,  is 
well  known.  I  will  not,  however,  go  the  length  of  Liebig  in  asserting,  that  if  we  were 
to  go  naked,  as  the  Indians,  or  if  in  hunting  or  fishing  we  were  exposed  to  the  same 
degree  of  cold  as  the  Samoyedes,  we  should  be  able  to  consume  the  half  of  a  calf,  besides 
a  dozen  of  candles.J  For  though  it  must  be  admitted  that  the  inhabitant  of  a  frozen 

*  Narrative  of  a  Second  Voyage  in  Search  of  a  Northwest  Passage,  page  200.  London,  1835 
t  Most  persons  are  familiar  with  the  accounts  which  have  been  published  respecting  the  gormandizing 
powers  of  the  natives  of  the  Arctic  regions.  Captain  Sir  W.  E.  Parry  (Second  Voyage  for  the  Discovery 
of  the  Northwest  Passage,  p.  413,  London,  1824)  states  that,  as  a  matter  of  curiosity,  he  one  day  tried 
how  much  food  an  Esquimaux  lad,  scarcely  full  grown,  would  consume,  if  freely  supplied.  "  The  under- 
mentioned articles  were  weighed  before  being  given  to  him ;  he  was  twenty  hours  in  getting  through 
them,  and  certainly  did  not  consider  the  quantity  extraordinary." 


Ibe.  oz. 

Sea-horse  flesh,  hard  frozen    ...    4  4 

ditto          boiled 4  4 

Bread  and  bread-dust     .              .     .     1  12 


Total 10 


The  fluids  were  in  fair  proportion,  viz  :- 

Rich  gravy  soup,     .     .     H  pint. 
Raw  spirits,    ....     3  wine     ' 


Strong  grog,    ....     1  tumbler. 

Water, 1  gallon  1  pint. 

Sir  John  Ross  (Narrative,  p.  448,  1835)  says,  that  ari  Esquimaux  "  perhaps  eats  twenty  pounds  of  flesh 
and  oil"  daily. 

But  the  most  marvellous  account  of  gormandizing  powers  is  that  published  by  Captain  Cochrane, 
(Narrative  of  a  Pedestrian  Journey  through  Russia  and  Siberian  Tartary,  vol.  i.  p.  255,  3d  edit.  1825.) 
He  says  that  the  Russian  Admiral  Saritcheff  was  told  that  one  of  the  Yakuti  consumed  in  twenty-four 
hours  "the  hind  quarter  of  a  large  ox,  twenty  pounds  of  fat,  and  a  proportionate  quantity  of  melted  butter 
for  liis  drink."  The  Admiral,  to  test  the  truth  of  the  statement,  gave  him  "  a  thick  porridge  of  rice  boiled 
down  with  three  pounds  of  butter,  weighing  together  twenty-eight  pounds,  and  although  the  glutton  had 
already  breakfasted,  yet.  did  he  sit  down  to  it  with  great  eagerness,  and  consumed  the  whole  without  stir- 
ring from  the  spot ;  and,  except  that  his  stomach  betrayed  more  than  ordinary  fulness,  he  showed  no  sign 
I  of  inconvenience  or  injury!!"  Captain  Cochrane  also  states  (p.  352)  that  a  good  calf,  weighing  about 
'  two  hundred  pounds,  "  may  serve  four  or  five  good  Yakuti  for  a  single  meal."  In  another  place  (p.  255) 
the  same  traveller  dbserves  that  he  has  repeatedly  seen  a  Yakut  or  Tongouse  devour  forty  pounds 
of  meat  a  day  ;  and,  he  adds,  "  I  have  seen  three  of  these  gluttons  consume  a  rein-deer  at  one  meal." 

t  Annalen  der  Chenne  und  Pharmacte,  vol.  xli.  Liebig,  or  his  translator,  seems  to  have  had  some 
misgivings  about  the  "/to//  of  a  calf,"  since,  in  the  English  translation,  I  find  10  pounds  of  flesh" 
substituted. 


10  ELEMENTS  OF  FOODS. 


region  requires  more  abundant  food  than  he  who  lives  in  a  temperate  climate,  yet  ,t  i.s 
an  error  to  ascribe  the  voracity  and  gormandizing  powers  of  some  of  the  natives  of  the 
colder  regions  to  the  influence  of  cold  only.  Tne  Hottentots  and  the  Bushmen  [Bosjes- 
mans]*  of  Southern  Africa,  indulge,  as  is  well  known,  in  beastly  gluttony,  yet  this  cannot 
be  the  effect  of  the  temperature  of  their  climate;  while  "the  inhabitants  of  the  Alpine 
regions  of  Southern  Europe  demand  no  such  extravagance  of  food,  nor  are  even  the 
people  of  Lapland  and  the  northern  extremity  of  Norway  conspicuous  for  such  eating; 
as  is  not  less  true  of  the  Icelanders."!  Instead,  therefore,  of  ascribing  the  gluttony  of  the 
inhabitants  of  frozen  regions  solely  to  the  low  temperature  to  which  they  are  exposed,  I 
consider  it  to  be  in  part  the  result  of  an  instinct  or  propensity  exercised  by  some  portion 
of  tho  brain.  Phrenologists  place  alimentiveness,  or  the  organ  of  the  propensity  to  t  . 
drink,  "at  the  base  of  the  middle  lobe  of  the  brain,  adjoining  and  immediately  below  the 
situation  occupied  by  the  organ  of  destructiveness  in  carnivorous  animals."!  But  while 
I  entertain  no  doubt  of  the  existence  of  such  a  propensity,  I  do  not  wish  to  offer  any 
opinion  as  to  the  precise  seat  of  it  within  the  skull.  To  varying  degrees  in  the  powrr 
and  activity  of  this  propensity  I  ascribe  the  greater  or  less  fondness  for  good  living  evinf  il 
by  different  individuals.  It  is  well  known  that  some  persons  are  notorious,  among  tln-ir 
friends  and  acquaintances,  for  their  gormandizing  propensity,  while  others  are  commonly 
reputed  as  being  little  eaters.  Similar  differences  are  observed  between  different  nations. 
"The  great  difference  which  exists  between  the  French  and  German?,  in  the  organs  of 
alimentiveness,  accounts  for  the  difference  between  the  two  nations  in  sobriety.  AtVr 
the  Spaniards,  no  nation  in  Europe  is  more  sober  than  the  French  ;  while  the  Germans 
are  essentially  great  feeders.  Among  a  pretty  considerable  number  of  German,  Spani.-h, 
and  French  soldiers,  who  were  in  the  same  hospital  at  Caen,  I  have  observed,' 
Dr.  Vimont,  "that  a  remarkable  difference  existed  among  them  in  regard  to  the  faculty 
in  question.  A  light  soup,  some  fruit,  or  a  little  meat,  were  sufficient  for  the  Spaniards  ; 
the  repast  of  the  French  consisted  of  three  fourths  of  the  portion ;  while  the  Germans 
swallowed  the  whole  allowance,  and  continually  complained  that  they  did  not  receive 
enough  of  meat  and  potatoes.  Every  time  I  happened  to  pass  the  wards  where  th 
mans  were  placed,  I  was  certain  to  be  assailed  by  the  words  Jlesh,  flesh,  */' 

Much  less  heat  is  evolved  when  there  is  a  deficiency  of  food.     "  During  tho  \\\\ 
our  march,"  observes  Sir  John  Franklin,1T  "  we  experienced,  that  no  quantity  of  clothing 


*  Barrow  (Account  of  Travels  into  the  Interior  of  Southern  Africa,  vol.  i.  p.  152.     1801)  says  that  the 
Hottentots  are  "  the  greatest  gluttons  upon  the  face  of  the  earth.     Ten  of  our  Hottentots,"  he  adds. 
middling-fixed  ox,  all  but  the  two  hind  legs,  in  three  days ;  but  they  had  very  little  sleep  durina  the  time, 
and  had  fasted  the  two  preceding  days.     With  them  the  word  is  to  fnt  or  to  sleep.     When  they  cannot 
indulge  in  the  gratification  of  the  one,  they  generally  find  immediate  relief  in  (lying  to  the  other." 

The  same  authority,  when  speaking  of  the  BotjaMMOt,  (op  cit.  p.  28-*,)  says  that  they  are  equally 
filthy  and  gluttonous  with  the  voracious  vultures.     "The  three  who  accompanied  us  to  our  wagons  had 
a  sheep  given  to  them  about  five  in  the  evening,  which  was  entirely  consumed  by  them  before  the 
noon  of  the  following  day.     They  continued,  however,  to  eat  all  night,  without  sleep  and  without 
i       intermission,  till  they  had  finished  the  whole  animal.     After  this,  their  lank  bellies  were  distended  to 

such  a  degree  that  they  looked  less  like  human  creatures  than  before." 
!•         t  Sir  J.  Ross,  <>p.  supra  cit.  p.  447. 

t  A  Syntem  of  Phrenology,  by  George  Combe,  p.  230,  4th  ed.     Edinburgh,  1836.     ' 
$  Dr.  VimotU,  quoted  by  Mr.  G.  Combe,  in  his  System  of  Phrenology,  ».  765. 
II  See  Appendix,  A. 

1T  Narrative  of  a  Journey  to  the  Shores  of  the  Polaj  Sea,  in  the.  years  1819  to  1822  p  424     London 
1823. 


HYDROGEN. 


11 


could  keep  us  warm  while  we  fasted,  but  on  those  occasions  when  we  were  enabled  to 
go  to  bed  with  full  stomachs,  we  passed  the  night  in  a  warm  and  comfortable  mannci." 
In  tropical  climates,  and  even  in  cooler  regions  during  the  summer,  a  smaller  quantity  of 
food  suffices  to  keep  up  the  temperature  of  the  bo(  y,  and  under  the  same  circumstances 
substances  containing  a  less  proportion  of  carbon  are  better  adapted  for  the  preservation 
of  health. 

The  frequency  of  diseases  of  the  liver,  in  hot  seasons  and  tropical  climates,  is  ascribed 
by  Liebig  to  the  accumulation  of  carbon  in  the  system.  **  In  our  climate,"  he  observes,* 
"hepatic  diseases,  or  those  arising  from  excess  of  carbon,  prevail  in  summer;  in  winter, 
pulmonic  diseases,  or  those  arising  from  excess  of  oxygen,  are  more  frequent." 

When  the  external  temperature  is  high,  less  carbon  is  requisite  to  support  the  natural 
heat  of  the  body,  and  in  consequence  of  tne  air  being  expanded,  we  inhale,  at  each 
inspiration,  less  oxygen  by  weight  than  in  colder  climates  and  seasons.  If,  therefore,  we 
continue  to  consume  large  quantities  of  food,  there  will  be  an  excess  of  carbonaceous 
matter  in  the  system. 

The  influence  of  external  temperature,  excess  of  food,  and  want  of  exercise,  on  the 
condition  of  the  liver,  is  well  shown  in  the  goose.  The  celebrated  pales  de  foies  gras, 
prepared  at  Strasburg,  are  made  of  the  livers  of  geese,  artificially  enlarged  "  by  the  cruel 
process  of  shutting  the  birds  up  in  coops,  within  a  room  heated  to  a  very  high  tempera- 
ture, and  stuffing  them  constantly  with  food."f 

In  tropical  climates  and  in  hot  seasons  the  system  requires  a  smaller  quantity,  and  a 
loss  carbonaceous  quality,  of  food  than  in  colder  countries  and  cold  seasons ;  and  the 
frequent  occurrence  of  hepatic  disease  among  Europeans,  who  reside  in  tropical  countries, 
is  probably  in  part  owing  to  their  continued  employment  of  a  dietetical  system  fitted  for 
colder  climates^ 

2.  HYDROGEN. — Hydrogen,  like  carbon,  is  an  essential  constituent  of  every  organized  tis- 
sue ;  and  is,  in  consequence,  a  necessary  ingredient  of  the  food  of  every  living  being,  both 
vegetable  and  animal.  The  nutritive  principles  of  seeds,  the  albumen  and  oil  of  eggs,  and 
the  sugar,  the  butter  and  caseine  of  milk,  therefore,  contain  it. 

RELATIVE  QUANTITY  OF  HYDROGEN  AND  OXYGEN  IN 
ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLES. 


GROUP  1.  —  Principles  wh  >s< 
oxygen  and  hydrogen  arr 
in  the  same    ratio  as  in 
water. 

GROUP  2.  —  Principles    con- 
taining an  excess  of  hy- 
drogen. 

GROUP  3.  —  Principles   con- 
taining an  excess  of  oxy- 
gen. 

Acetic  Acid 
Starch 
Sugar 
Gum 

Oil 
Alcohol 
Malic  Acid 
Fibrine      }    Animal 
Albumen  >        and 
Caseine    )  Vegetable 
Gluten 
Gelatine 

Pectine 
Citric  Acid 
Tartaric  Acid 

Considered  with  respect  to  the  quantity  of  hydrogen  which  they  contain,  alimentary 
principles  may  be  arranged  in  three  groups  :  the  first  containing  those  substances  whose 
and  hydrogen  are  in  the  same  relative  proportion  as  in  water;  the  second,  in- 


*  Awtwuz/  Chemistry,  p.  24. 

t  Murray's  Hand-Book  for   Travellers  on  the  Continent  :   leing  a  Guide  through  Holland,  Belgium, 
Prussia,  and  Northern  Germany,  p.  448.     London,  1836. 
t  See  Appendix,  B. 


12 


ELEMENTS  OF  FOODS. 


eluding  those  whose  oxygen  is  to  the  hydrogen  in  a  less  proportion  than  in  water,  or 
which  contain  an  excess  of  hydrogen  ;  and  the  third,  comprehending  those  whose  oxygen 
is  to  the  hydrogen  in  a  proportion  greater  than  is  necessary  to  form  water,  or  which 
possess  an  excess  of  oxygen. 

GROUP  1. — Alimentary  principles  whose  oxygen  and  hydrogen  are  in  the  same  ratio  as  ~i 
water.  The  substances  of  this  group  may  be  regarded  as  hydrates  of  cmbon,  since  they 
consist  of  carbon  and  water,  (or  its  elements.)  Their  composition  is  as  follows: — 

HYDRATES  OF  CARBON. 

Acetic  Acid 12  C  4-   9  Water 

Starch 12  C  -  -  10  Water 

Cane  Sugar 12  C  -  -  10  Water  -f-  1  Water 

Gum 12  C  -f-  10  Water  4-  1  Water 

Sugar  of  Milk  .     .          .     .  12  C  4-  10  Water  -f  2  Water 

Grape  Sugar   .     .  12  C  -j-  10  Water  -{-  4  Water 

It  is  obvious  that  these  foods  can  yield  carbon  only  to  be  oxidated  in  the  system,  since 
the  hydrogen  is  already  in  combination  with  oxygen.  This,  therefore,  is  a  sufficient 
explanation  of  the  fact  mentioned  by  Liebig,  that  the  graminivorous  animals  expire  a 
volume  of  carbonic  acid  equal  to  that  of  the  oxygen  inspired ;  in  other  words,  there  is  no 
loss  of  oxygen,  since  one  volume  of  carbonic  acid  gas  contains  a  volume  of  oxygen. 


2eq. 
Oxygen 

=  16 


leq. 
Carbon 


In  a  state  of  nature,  a  ;arge  proportion  of  the  food  of  these  animals  consists  of  prin- 
ciples (starch,  sugar,  and  gum)  whose  hydrogen  is  saturated  with  oxygen.  In  no  other 
way  can  we  account  for  the  fact  just  referred  to  ;  for,  as  Liebig  correctly  observes,  "  at 
the  temperature  of  the  body,  the  affinity  of  hydrogen  for  oxygen  far  surpasses  that  of 
carbon  for  the  same  element,"  and,  therefore,  the  return  of  an  equal  volume  of  carbonic 
acid  by  expiration  is  an  evidence  that  there  was  a  want  of  hydrogen  for  the  oxygen  to 
combine  with. 

GROUP  2.  Alimentary  principles,  whose  oxygen  is  to  the  hydrogen  in  a  less  proportion  than 
in  wy-ter,  or  which  contain  an  excess  of  hydrogen.  —  This  group  includes  both  nitrogenized 
and  non-nitrogenized  food.  If  we  suppose  the  oxygen  of  these  principles  to  be  combined 
with  hydrogen  in  the  ratio  to  form  water,  there  will  remain,  for  each,  an  excess  of  hydro- 
gen; the  amount  of  which,  however,  varies  in  different  substances.  The  following  table, 
constructed  on  this  view,  shows  the  excess  of  hydrogen  which  each  principle  contains, 
the  amount  of  carbon  in  each  being  calculated  to  be  the  same  :  — 


ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLES  CONTAINING  AN  EXCESS  OF  HYDROGEN 


Malic  Acid  (anhydrous) 

Fat  (Lard'      . 

Alcohol 

Proteine 

Albumen 

Fibrine 

Caseine 

Gelatinous  tissues,  terubns 

Chondrine     . 


=48  C4-  18 
=48  C4-  4.5 
=48  C4-  24 
=48  C4-  14 
=48  C-  -  14 
=48  C4-  14 
=48  C4-  14 
=48  C--  18 
=48  C--  20 


Wftter4-    6     H 
"     -  -  38.5  H 


"  +  48 

"  4-  22 

«  _  _  22 

'•  -  -  22 

"  --22 

"  -  -  23 

"  --20 


H 
H4-6N 

H--6N4-5-KP* 
H--6  N4-2S+P 
H4-6  N+5 
H4-7.5  N 
H--6N 


*  The  letters  .S'  and  P  are  no1",  intended  to  express  the  absolute  number  of  equivalents  of  sulphur  and 
phosphorus,  but  only  the  relative  proportions  of  these  two  elements  to  each  other. 


HYDROGEN.  13 


The  ultimate  changes  which  these  constituents  of  food  undergo  in  the  system,  are  the 
conversion  of  the  carbon  into  carbonic  acid,  and  the  hydrogen  into  water.  **  It  signifies 
nothing,"  says  Liebig,  "what  intermediate  forms  food  may  assume,  what  changes  it  may 
undergo  in  the  body,  the  last  change  is  uniformly  the  conversion  of  its  carbon  into  carbonic 
acid,  and  of  its  hydrogen  into  water.  The  unassimilated  hydrogen  of  the  food,  along  with 
the  unburned  or  unoxidized  carbon,  is  expelled  in  the  urine  or  in  the  solid  excrements." 

By  the  union  of  hydrogen  with  oxygen,  and  the  consequent  formation  of  water.,  a  con- 
siderable degree  of  heat  is  developed.  According  to  Despretz,*  one  pound  of  hydrogen 
yields,  by  combustion  with  oxygen;  sufficient  heat  to  raise  the  temperature  of  236*4  Ibs. 
of  water  from  32°  Fahr.  to  212°  Fahr. ;  weight  for  weight,  therefore,  hydrogen  greatly  ex- 
ceeds carbon  in  its  calorific  power. 

Part  of  the  heat  developed  in  carnivorous  animals  must  arise  from  the  oxidation  of  hy- 
drogen ;  for,  in  the  first  place,  hydrogen  (as  of  the  fat)  disappears  from  the  system,  and 
there  is  no  other  mode  by  which  it  can  have  done  so  except  by  union  with  oxygen,  and 
its  consequent  conversion  into  water.f  In  the  second  place,  of  the  atmospheric  oxygen 
taken  into  the  lungs  during  inspiration,  the  whole  is  not  found,  in  the  inspired  air,  in  union 
with  carbon,  nearly  every  experimenter  having  detected  a  loss.f 

Bostock§  calculates  that'45,000  cubic  inches  of  oxygen  gas  are  consumed  in  respiration 
by  a  man,  under  ordinary  circumstances,  in  twenty-four  hours;  but  that  of  this  quantity 
only  about  40,000  cubic  inches  are  found  in  the  expired  air  in  combination  with  carbon. 
The  remaining  5000  cubic  inches  must,  therefore,  be  employed  in  the  oxidation  of  other 
combustible  matters  (principally  hydrogen)  in  the  system. 

GROUP  3.  Alimentary  principles,  whose  oxygen  is  to  the  hydrogen  in  a  proportion  greater 
than  is  necessary  to  form  water. — None  of  the  substances  of  this  group,  which  includes  pec- 
tine  (vegetable  jelly)  and  some  vegetable  acids,  are  nitrogenized.  The  following  table 
represents  the  composition  of  these  principles,  on  the  supposition  that  the  hydrogen  is  com- 
bi-ned  with  oxygen,  in  the  ratio  to  form  water,  the  calculation  being  made  for  the  same 
amount  of  carbon  in  each  : — 

ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLES  CONTAINING  AN  EXCESS  OF  OXYGEN. 
Pectine        ....        =12  C+  8-5  Water-f-11  O 
Citric  Acid  (dry;          .        .        =  12  C-f  5        *     4-  6  O 
Tartaric  Acid  (dry)      .        .        =12  C-f  6         "     -j- 9  O 

All  the  hydrogen  and  part  of  the  carbon  of  these  principles  are,  theiefore,  in  combination 
with  oxygen. 

3.  OXYGEN. — Of  all  undecompounded  or  elementary  substances,  none  presents,  to  my 
mind,  so  much  interest  as  oxygen — a  principle  which  constitutes  not  less  than  three-fourths 
of  the  known  terraqueous  globe|| — which  is  concerned  in  almost  every  change  that  occurs 

*  Graham,  Elements  of  Chemistry,  p.  250. 

t  Hydrogen  gas  is  often  secreted  within  the  intestinal  canal ;  sometimes,  in  cases  of  disease,  in  very  large 
quantities. — L. 

t  Messrs.  Allen  and  Pepys  (Phil.  Trans.  1809,  p.  404)  ascribed  the  slight  loss  observed  in  their  researches 
to  some  accidental  circumstance,  and  inferred,  therefore,  that  the  oxygen  which  disappears  is  exactly  re- 
placed by  an  equal  volume  of  carbonic  acid. 

$  Elementary  System  of  Physiology,  vol.  ii.  p.  110.     London,  1826. 

il  The  following  calculations  support  the  ahove  statement : — Oxygen  is  a  constituent  of  the  Atmosphere, 
of  the  Water,  and  of  the  Mineral  Crust  of  the  globe.  It  constitutes  23-100  by  weight  cf  the  air,  8-9  of  the 
aqueous  vapor,  and  16-22  of  the  carbonic  acid  of  the  atmosphere.  "Water,  which  coveis  3-4  of  the  globe, 
at  an  average  depth  of  about  three  miles,  contains  8-9  of  its  weight  of  oxygen.  Silica,  carbonate  of  lime, 
and,  alumina,  the  three  most  abundant  constituents  of  the  strata  of  the  earth,  contain  nearly  half  their 
weight  of  oxygen.  Mr.  De  la  Beche  (Researches  in  Theoretical  Geology,  p.  8)  calculates  that  silica  alone 
constitutes  45  per  cent,  of  the  mineral  crust  of  the  globe,  and  of  this,  one-half  is  oxygen 


14  ELEMENTS  OF  FOODS. 


among  natural  bodies — and  which  is  so  mysteriously  connected  with  life,  that  without  its 
never-ceasing  influence  all  vital  phenomena  would  speedily  cease  !  As  the  continuance 
of  the  flarne  of  a  candle  or  lamp  depends  on  the  due  supply  of  oxygen  to  the  fat  or  fhe 
oil,  and  as  in  the  voltaic  apparatus,  an  electric  current  is  excited  by  the  ox/dizement  of  a 
metal,  so  animal  life  seems  to  be  inseparably  connected  with  the  influence  of  oxygen  on 
the  organism.  Interrupt  the  influence  of  oxygen  and  the  flame  is  extinguished,  the  electric 
current  is  stopped,  and  all  vital  phenomena  cease.  In  all  three  processes,  matter  (oil, 
zinc,  organic  substances)  is  destroyed  or  consumed  by  the  oxygen,  or  in  other  words,  un- 
dergoes a  change  of  form.  So  that  though  oxygen  be  essential  to  life — though  it  be  vital 
air — yet  its  ultimate  effect  is  destructive;  just  as,  in  the  lamp,  it  is  the  cause  of  the  flame, 
but  consumes  the  oil.  "  Man,  and  every  other  animal,  are  exposed  at  every  period  of 
their  lives  to  the  unceasing  and  destructive  action  of  the  atmosphere ;  with  every  breath 
he  expires  a  part  of  his  body,  every  moment  of  his  life  he  produces  carbonic  acid,  the  car- 
bon of  which  his  food  must  replace." 

Oxygen  is  a  necessary  ingredient  of  our  food.  The  relative  proportions  of  oxygen  and 
hydrogen  in  different  foods  have  been  already  alluded  to.  (p.  12.)  The  following  table, 
taken  from  Liebig,  gives  the  relative  proportions  of  carbon  and  oxygen  in  several  alimen- 
tary principles  : — 

RELATIVE  PROPORTIONS  OF  CARBON  AND  OXYGKN  IN  ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLES. 


In  I'nts  (on  an  average)          .        .  120  equivalents  of  Carbon  10  equivalents  of  Oxygen 

In  Fibrinc,  Albumen,  and  Caseine  !'•!•>  M  " 

In  su.rcli        .  ...  1'2  >  »  100 

In  Cane  Sugar       ...  120  "  110        " 

In  <;nm     .  120  «  110 

I:.  S,w,rofMi!k  .  l'J»»  "  130 

In  C^rape  Sugar      .  120  «  140 

J±i  the  carbon  and  hydrogen  of  the  food  are  ultimately,  for  the  most  part,  throw : 
of  the  system  in  combination  with  oxygen — that  is,  in  the  form  of  carbonic  acid  and  water — 
it  follows  that  those  foods  which  contain  a  small  proportion  of  oxygen  only  must  consume 
a  greater  amount  of  atmospheric  oxygi-n  than  those  which   possess  a  larger  quantity  of 
this  element.     It  cannot  be  doubted,  therefore,  that  the  quality  of  the  food  must  affect  the 
activity  of  the  function  of  respiration.     This  is  quite  in  accordance  with  the  result- 
perience.     Mr.  Spalding,*  a  diver,  found  that  he  consumed  more  atmospheric  <'.\v<r>  n  in 
his  diving-bell,  when  he  had  used  a  diet  of  animal  food,  or  drank  spirituous  liquors  ;  and 
experience,  therefore,  had  taught  him  that  vegetable  food,  and  water  for  drin   . 
adapted  for  the  performance  of  the  duties  of  his  business.     Dr.  Fyfef  also  found  that  the 
consumption  of  oxygen  was  greatly  reduced  by  the  employment  of  vegetable  diet,  though 
he  differed  from  Mr.  Spalding  in  his  account  of  the  effect  of  alcohol  on  the  respiratory 
function. 

The  influence  exercised  by  matters  taken  into  the  stomach  on  the  process  of  respiration, 
is  well  illustrated  in  the  case  of  the  vegetable  salts  of  potash  or  snla.  It'  the  acetate, 
citrate,  or  tartrate  of  either  of  these  alkalies  be  swallowed,  the  salt  suffers  partial  decom- 
positior  in  its  passage  through  the  system.  Its  base  can  be  detected  in  the  urine ;  but  its 
acid  has  disappeared,  and  is  replaced  by  carbonic  acid.  T:  effect  this  change,  a  con- 
siderable quantity  of  oxygen  must  be  consumed.  In  the  case  of  acetate  of  potash,  no 
less  than  eight  equivalents  of  oxygen  are  required  to  convert  the  carbon  of  every  atom 
of  acetic  acid  into  carbonr.  acid. 

*  Sec  Dr.  John  Murray's  System  of  Materia  Medico,  and  Pharmacy,  rol.  i.  509,  5lh  ed.     Edinb.  1 
t  Quoted  by  Dr.  Bostock,  in  his  F.!,  mrnlary  System  of  Physiology,  vol.  ii.  p.  90.     London  1826. 


NITROGEN.  15 


CONVERSION  OF  ACETIC  ACID  INTO  CARBONIC  ACID  AND  WATER. 


1  equivalent  Acetic  Acid  Ci  Os  Hs 
8          "  Oxygen         —  Os  — 


4  equivalents  Carbonic  Acic  C4  Os 
3          "  Water  —  O3  H 


Total  .        .        C4  On  H3 


Total          .        .  C4  On  H3 


When  we  take  an  ordinary  effervescing  draught  composed  of  tartaric  acid  and  bicar- 
bonate of  soda,  there  is  developed,  by  their  mutual  reaction,  tartrate  of  soda,  which  in  its 
•  passage  through  the  system,  suffers  decomposition.    Its  tartaric  acid  disappears,  and  is 
converted  into  carbonic  acid  and  water  by  means  of  oxygen. 

CONVERSION  OF  TARTARIC  ACID  INTO  CARBONIC  ACID  AND  WATER. 


1  equivalent  Tartaric  Acid   C4  Os  Hs 
5          "  Oxygen  —  O5 — 


4  equivalents  Carbonic  Acid  C4  Os  — 
2          "  Water  —  O2   lit 


Total  C4  Oio  H8 


Total  C4  Oio  H2 


Now  the  eight  equivalents  of  oxygen  in  the  first  case,  and  the  five  equivalents  in  the 
latter  instance,  must  be  derived  either  from  the  organism  or  from  the  atmosphere.  But, 
as  Liebig  justly  observes,  there  is  no  evidence  presented  by  the  organism  in  itself  that  any 
of  its  constituents  have  yielded  so  large  a  quantity  of  oxygen ;  and  we  have  a  right, 
therefore,  to  infer  that  it  must  have  been  derived  from  the  air ;  and  that  these  salts,  in 
their  passage  through  the  lungs,  appropriate  to  themselves  the  necessary  amount  of  oxy- 
gen. But  do  they  appropriate  that  which,  if  they  were  not  present,  would  be  otherwise 
employed  in  the  organism  1  Or  do  they  consume  an  extra  quantity  of  oxygen  1  We 
have  no  precise  data  on  which  we  can  satisfactorily  answer  this  question.  Liebig  asserts 
that  they  must  consume  a  part  of  the  oxygen,  which  would  otherwise  unite  with  the  con- 
stituents of  the  blood  ;  and  "the  immediate  consequence,"  he  observes,  "  of  this  must  be 
the  formation  of  arterial  blood  in  less  quantity ;  or,  in  other  words,  the  process  of  respira- 
tion must  be  retarded."  But  it  appears  to  me,  that  Liebig's  conclusion  is  by  no  means  a 
necessary  one,  and  that  on  this,  as  on  several  other  occasions,  he  has  decided  somewhat 
hastily,  and  written  much  too  positively.  I  have  already  shown  that  the  amount  of  oxy- 
gen, consumed  by  respiration,  is  modified  by  the  quality  of  the  food ;  and  it  is  by  no 
nii.-ans  improbable,  therefore,  that  the  passage  of  the  above-memtioned  salts  through  the 
hiiigs  may  occasion  a  temporary  augmented  consumption  of  oxygen  ;  but  the  evidence 
for  or  against  this  notion  is  yet  to  be  adduced. 

4.  NITROGEN  or  AZOTE. — Nitrogen  is  distinguished  from  the  three  preceding  substances, 
by  the  indifference  which  it  manifests  to  enter  into  chemical  combination  with  other 
bodies.  It  is  an  essential  constituent  of  every  animal  tissue.*  Fat  and  water  are  non- 
nitrogenized  components  of  the  animal  body,  but  they  are  not  organized  or  living  sub- 
stances. It  is  obvious,  therefore,  that  for  the  development,  growth,  nutrition,  and  renova- 
tion of  living  animal  parts,  nitrogen  is  essential ;  and  accordingly  we  find,  that  nature 
has  supplied  it  in  the  food  which  she  has  furnished  for  the  nourishment  of  the  young 
animal ;  it  being  a  constituent  of  the  albumen  of  the  yolk  of  the  egg,  (the  food  of  tho 
embryo  chick,)  and  of  the  caseine  of  the  milk,  (the  aliment  of  the  young  mammal.) 

A  large  number  of  vegetable  and  animal  substances  used  as  food  contains  no  nitrogen. 
The  followirg  table  shows  the  per-centage  quantity  of  this  element  in  various  foods  :— 


*  "  The  chief  ingredients  of  the  blood  contain  nearly  17  per  cent,  of  nitrogen,  and  no  part  of  an  organ 
contains  less  than  17  per  cent,  of  nitrogen." — LIEBIG. 


16 


ELEMENTS  OF  FOODS. 


QUANTITY  OF  NITROGEN  IN  CERTAIN  FOODS. 

1.  In  Alimentafy  Principles. 

Per  cenlcge  of 

Nitrogen.  Authority. 

(Animal  Albumen  (of  eggs)  ....         15-920  Scherer. 

Vegetable  Albumen  (of  wheat) 15-920  Jones. 

Animal  fibrine 15817  Scherer. 

Vegetable  fibrine .     .     15-809  Ditto. 

Animal  caseine ...     15-724  Ditto. 

Vegetable  caseine 15-672  Ditto. 

Gluten 15-93  Jones. 

S  Tendons  of  calves' feet 18-470  Scherer. 

Isinglass 18-790  Ditto. 

Cartilage  of  calves' ribs  (chrondine) 14-908  Ditto. 

2.  Compound  Aliments. 

Wheat  (dried  in  vacua  at  230°  Fahr.) 2-3  Boussingault 

Rye      (ditto) 1-7  Ditto. 

Oats     (ditto) 2-2  Ditto. 

Barley  (dried  at  212°) 2-02  Ditto. 

Rice     (ditto) 1-39  Ditto. 

Indian  Corn  or  Maize  (ditto) 2-0  Ditto. 

Peas     (dried  in  vacua  at  230°  Fahr.) 4-2  Ditto. 

Horse  beans  (dried  at  212°  Fahr.) 5-5  Ditto. 

White  haricots  (ditto) 4-3  Ditto. 

Lentils              (ditto) 4-4  Ditto. 

Potatoes  (fresh) 0-37  Ditto. 

Ditto  (dried  at  212°  Fahr.) 1-80  Ditto. 

Ditto  kept  ten  months 0-28  Ditto 

Ditto  (dried  at  212°  Fahr.) M8  hitto. 

JtTU-ulfin  artichokes  (dried  in  vacua  at  230°  Fahr.) 1-6  Ditto. 

While  ^;inlt'ii  cnhhace 0-28  Ditto. 

Ditto  (dried  at  212°  Fahr.) 3-70  Ditto. 

Carrot  (dried  at  212°  Fahr.)         2'40  Ditto. 

Turnips 0-17  Ditto. 

Ditto  (dried  at  212  Fahr.) ....      2-20  Ditto. 

Dried  ox  blood 15-08  Bceckman. 

Dried  muscular  flesh  (beef) 15-05  Diuo. 

Roasted  flesh  (roe  deer) 15-23  Ditto 

Ditto     (beef) 15-214  Play  fair. 

Ditto     (veal)       14-70  Ditto. 

Several  circumstances  have  induced  recent  writers  to  conclude  that  nitrogenized  foods 
are  alone  capable  of  conversion  into  blood,  and  of  forming  organized  tissues;  that,  in  fact, 
they  only  are  the  foods  properly  so  called.  Hence  Liebig  has  denominated  them  the 
plastic  elements  of  nutrition.  The  non-nitrogenized  foods,  it  is  said,  are  incapable  of  trans- 
formation into  blood,  and  are,  therefore,  unfitted  i'or  forming  organized  or  living  tissues. 
They  are,  nevertheless,  essential  to  health ;  and1  Liebig  asserts  that  their  function  is  to 
support  the  process  of  respiration,  (by  yielding  carbon  and  hydrogen,  the  oxidation  of 
which  is  attended  with  the  development  of  heat,)  and  some  of  them,  he  states,  contribute 
to  the  formation  of  fat  These  non-nitrogenized  foods  he  calls  elements  of  respiration. 


J*'itr«trenized  Foods, 
or  Plastic  Elements  of  Nutrition. 

Vegetable  Fibrine 

Albumen 

Caseiue 

Animal  Kle.-h 
Blood 


Won-nitrofrmi'Lrd  Foods, 
or  Elements  of  Respiration.^ 

Fat  Pectin  e 

Starch  Bassorine 

Gum  Wine 

Cane  Sugar  Beer 

Grape  Sugar  Spirits 
Sugar  of  Milk 


I  propose  now  to  stat'j  briefly  those  circumstances  which  have  been  adduced  in  favor 
of  the  opinion,  that  nitrogenized  foods  alone  nourish  the  tissues  offering,  as  I  proceed, 
short  commentaries  on  them. 

1.  The  first  argument  is,  that  as  the  animal  tissues  contain  nitrogen  as  one  of  their  essen- 


r 


NITROGEN.  17 


Hal  constituents,  and  as  this  element  cannot  be  created  in  the  system,  it  must  be  derived  from 
either  the  food  or  the  atmosphere ;  but  as  it  is  not  absorbed  from  the  atmosphere  in  the  vital 
process,  it  must  be  obtained  from  the  food. 

It  appears  to  me,  that  if  it  can  be  demonstrated  that  **  no  nitrogen  is  absorbed  from  the 
atmosphere,"  the  most  important  fact  in  favor  of  nitrogenized  food  is  obtained.  But  has 
this  been  satisfactorily  done  1  I  think  not.  Numerous  researches  have  been  undertaken 
by  different  persons  to  determine  this  point,  but  the  results  have  been  most  discordant. 
Some  of  the  experimenters  have  declared  that  the  nitrogen  of  the  air  is  passive  in 
respiration  ;  some  have  asserted  that  nitrogen  is  generated  in  the  lungs ;  some  that  it  is 
absorbed  ;  others  that  it  is  both  absorbed  and  exhaled — under  certain  circumstances  ab- 
sorption being  most  active,  under  others  exhalation.  What  conclusions,  then,  it  may 
be  asked,  have  cautious,  unbiassed,  and  well-informed  physiologists  drawn  from  these 
discrepant  assertions  1  Muller,  one  of  Liebig's  countrymen,  and  the  most.distinguished 
physiologist  of  the  age,  observes  that  "The  conclusion  to  be  deduced  from  all  these 
experiments  seems  to  be,  that  during  respiration  nitrogen  is  both  absorbed  and  exhaled 
by  the  blood."*  Dr.  Carpenterf  concludes  his  account  of  the  chemical  phenomena  of 
respiration  with  the  following  observation  : — "  Thus,  there  will  be  a  continual  exosmose 
of  carbonic  acid  and  nitrogen,  and  a  continual  endosmose  of  oxygen  and  nitrogen  ;  and 
the  relative  quantities  of  these  gases  exhaled  and  absorbed  will  be  subject  to  continual  va- 
riation from  secondary  causes."  Lastly,  Dr.  BostockJ  observes,  that  "  It  is  probable  that 
the  blood,  as  it  passes  through  the  lungs,  both  absorbs  and  exhales  nitrogen,  the  proportion 
which  these  operations  bear  to  each  other  being  very  variable,  and  depending  upon  cer- 
tain states  of  the  system,  or  upon  the  operation  of  external  agents." 

Thus,  then,  it  appears  that  some  of  the  best  systematic  physiological  writers  admit  the 
absorption  of  nitrogen  ;  and  it  is,  therefore,  somewhat  remarkable  that  both  Liebig  and 
Dumas§  should  make  such  positive  and  unqualified  denials  of  it,  without  adducing  some 
new  facts  in  proof  of  the  accuracy  of  their  own  views.  Their  opinions  must,  I  presume, 
be  founded  on  the  experiments  of  DulongH  and  Despretz.lT  The  first  of  these  philosophers 
has  given  an  account  of  seventeen  experiments  made  on  animals.  In  fourteen  cases  he 
found'that  nitrogen  was  exhaled,  in  one  that  it  was  absorbed,  in  one  that  it  underwent  no 
change,  and  in  one  the  result  is  not  stated.  Dulong,  however,  seemed  to  think  that  fur- 
ther experiments  were  required  to  verify  these  results  ;  for  he  observes,  that  "  the  exhala- 
tion of  nitrogen  by  the  pulmonary  surface  was  a  phenomenon  too  remarkable  to  be  passed 
over  without  an  attempt  being  made  to  verify  it  in  an  indubitable  manner ;  and  I  propose," 
he  adds,  "  to  make  some  special  experiments  for  this  purpose."  With  regard  to  Des- 
pretz's  experiments,  it  is  deserving  of  especial  notice,  that  whenever  his  conclusions  mili- 
tate against  the  opinions  of  Liebig  and  Dumas,  they  offer  sundry  objections  to  his  experi- 

*  Daly's  Translation  of  Mutter's  Elements  of  Physiology,  vol.  i.  p.  310.     London,  1833. 

t  Principles  of  Human  Physiology,  p.  433.     London,  1842. 

t  Elementary  System  of  Physiology,  vol.  ii.  p.  143.     1826. 

§  "  Animals  constantly  exhale  nitrogen,"  says  M.  Dumas,  (Essai  de  Statique  Cldmique  des  Etres  Organ- 
ises p.  06  2m- .  ed.  1812.)  "  I  insist  on  this  point,"  he  adds,  "  in  order  to  dispel  one  of  those  illusions,  which, 
in  my  opinion,  are  among  the  most  obnoxious  to  your  studies.  Some  observers;  have  admitted,  in  respira- 
tion, an  absorption  of  nitrogen;  but  this  is  never  observed  except  under  circumstances  which  render  it 
more  than  doubtful.  The  constant  phenomenon  is  the  exhalation  of  this  gas,  as  Despretz  has  very  cor- 
rectly stated." 

II  Memoirc  sur  la  Chaleur  Animate,  read  to  the  Academy  of  Sciences  at  Paris  in  1822,  but  published  in 
the  18th  vol.  of  the  Memoires  of  the  Academy  in  1842. 

T  Annales  de  Chimie  et  de  Physique,  t.  xxvi.  p.  337.     1824. 


18  ELEMENTS  OF  FOODS. 


conclusions ;  but  where  the  results  of  his  investigations  coincide  with  their  opinions,  no 
objections  are  made  to  his  experiments.* 

That  animals  frequently,  if  not  generally,  exhale  nitrogen,  can  scarcely  be  denied  ;  but 
the  question  is,  whether,  when  animals  are  supplied  with  food  which  contains  a  quantity 
of  nitrogen  insufficient  for  the  wants  of  the  system,  nitrogen  may  not  then  be  absorbed 
by  the  lungs  ?  This  question,  it  appears  to  me,  remains  yet  to  be  solved  ;  and  I  am  not, 
therefore,  disposed  to  adopt  Liebig's  unqualified  assertion  that  "  no  nitrogen  is  absorbed 
from  the  atmosphere  ;"  the  more  especially  as  it  is  in  opposition  to  the  experiments  of 
Priestley,  Davy,  Cuvier,  Pfaff,  Henderson,  Spallanzani,  Edwards,  and  others,  and  to  the 
generally  received  opinions  of  physiologists.  It  appears  to  me  to  be  completely  begging 
the  question.  The  establishment  or  rejection  of  the  theory  of  nitrogenized  foods  is  most 
essentially  affected  by  the  present  argument;  for  should  it  be  shown  that  nitrogen  is 
absorbed  by  the  lungs,  we  have  then  another  source  for  the  nitrogen  of  the  tissues ; 
while,  on  the  other  hand,  if  nitrogen  be  not  absorbed,  the  tissues  can  obtain  this  element 
from  the  food  only.f  { 

But  there  is  another  source  of  nitrogen  which  has  not  been  hitherto  noticed, — I  mean 
the  ammonia  of  the  atmosphere.  Liebig  has  demonstrated  the  existence  of  this  substance 
in  the  air,  and  has  assigned  strong  reasons  for  believing  that  plants  derive  the  nitrogen  of 
their  nitrogenized  principles  from  it.  The  ammonia  of  the  inspired  air  may,  therefore,  be 
one  of  the  sources  from  whence  animals  derive  a  part,  small  though  it  be,  of  the  nitrogen 
of  their  system.} 

*  Liebig,  (Animal  Chemistry,  p.37,)  and  Dumas,  (op.  supra  cit.  p.  42,  85,  et  seq.)    The  first  of  these  chem- 
ists concludes  his  objections  to  Despretz's  experiments  in  these  words  :— "  We  can  hardly 

what  value  we  ought  to  attach  to  the  conclusions  drawn  from  such  experiments  as  those  above  described. 
These  experiments,  and  the  conclusions  deduced  from  them,  in  short,  are  incapable  of  furnishing  the 
smallest  support  to  the  opinion,"  &c.  &c. 

t  Dr.  Prout  (On  the  Nature  and  Treatment  of  Stomach  and  Urinary  Diseases,  p.  xxvi.,  3d  ed.  London, 
1840)  considers  that  both  sugar  and  fat  are  convertible  into  nitrogenized  animal  substances.  "  rhat  the 
oleaginous  principle,"  he  observes,  "  may  be  converted  into  most,  if  not  all,  the  matters  necessary  for  the 
existence  of  animal  bodies,  seems  to  be  proved  by  the  well-known  fact,  that  the  life  of  an  animal  may  be 
prolonged  by  the  appropriation  of  the  oleaginous  and  other  matters  contained  within  its  own  body.  l:i 
a  foot  note  (p.  xxvii.)  he  adds,  "  The  azote  may,  in  some  instances,  be  derived  from  the  air,  or  generated. 
But  my  belief  is,  that,  under  ordinary  cincumstnnces,  the  azotv  is  principally  funished  by  a  highly  azo- 
tizod  subtance  (organized  urea  ?)  secreted  from  the  blood,  either  into  the  stomach  or  duodenum,  or  into 
both  these  localities ;  and  that  the  portion  of  the  blood  thus  deprived  of  its  azote  is  separated  from  the 
general  mass  of  blood  by  the  liver,  as  one  of  the  constituents  of  the  bile,  which  secretion,  as  a  whole,  is 
remarkably  deficient  in  azote." 

t  Miiller  remarks  that  "  a  small  quantity  of  nitrogen  is  absorbed  by  the  blood  from  the  air  respired,  but  it 
does  not  appear  to  perform  any  office  in  the  system,  since  its  proportion  is  the  same  in  arterial  and  ven- 
ous blood." 

It  may  not  be  amiss  to  allude,  in  this  connection,  to  the  experiments  of  M.  Collard  de  Martigny,  (Journ. 
de  Physiol.  1830,)  who  found  an  increased  proportion  of  nitrogen  in  air  wliich  hod  been  respired,  and 
also  an  exhalation  of  nitrogen  by  the  skin.  On  the  ground  that  nitrogen,  like  all  other  gases,  is  imbibed 
by  moist  animal  membranes  and  by  the  skin,  M.  Collard  assumes  that  the  absorption  and  exhalation  of 
nitrogen  go  on  at  the  same  time  in  the  lungs,  but  that  the  exhalation  is  the  most  active.  Berzelius,  how- 
ever, regards  the  idea  of  a  simultaneous  exhalation  and  absorption  of  nitrogen  as  absurd.  There  can  be 
no  doubt,  that  during  the  respiration  of  man  and  the  higher  animals,  nitrogen  is,  under  some  circumstances, 
absorbed,  and  under  others,  exhaled  ;  and  it  is  highly  probable  that  this  depends  on  the  nature  of  the  food, 
»ne  want  of  nitrogen  in  it  being  supplied  to  the  system  through  absorption  and  its  superabundance  re- 
moved by  exhalation.  The  discrepancy  in  the  results  obtained  by  different  experimenters  can  hardly  be 
reconciled  on  any  other  hypothesis.— L. 

*  Liebig  has  proved  that  20,800  cubic  feet  of  air,  when  saturated  witli  aqueous  vapor,  contain  onepo  ind 


NITROGEN.  19 


2.  The  second  argument  ts,  that  non-nitrogenized  foods  alone  are  incapable  of  supporting 
animal  life. 

It  has  been  found,  by  experiments  on  animals,  that  gum,  sugar,  starch,  or  butter,  cannot 
alone  preserve  the  health  and  life  of  animals.  Magendie*  found  that  dogs  fed  exclusively 
on  sugar  and  water  died  in  from  thirty-one  to  thirty-four  days  ;  and  similar  results  were 
obtained  with  butter  and  with  gum.  Tiedemann  and  Gmelinf  have  confirmed  Magendie's 
statements.  They  found  that  geese  fed  on  sugar  and  water,  or  gum  and  water,  or  starch 
and  water,  died  in  from  sixteen  to  twenty-four  days. 

Magendie  also  states,  in  confirmation  of  the  above,  that  in  1793,  five  sailors  on  board 
the  wreck  of  a  vessel  from  Hamburgh,  had  subsisted  for  nine  days  on  sugar  and  a  small 
quantity  of  rum,  and  that  they  were  found  by  a  French  vessel  in  a  most  debilitated  state, 
(the  youngest  excepted.)  The  three  oldest  died  shortly  afterwards.  He  further  adds, 
that  an  eccentric  individual  in  Paris  had  subsisted  for  nearly  a  month  on  potatoes}  and 
water.  At  the  end  of  this  time  he  was  extremely  feeble,  and  passed  an  extraordinary 
quantity  of  urine;  but  by  the  use  of  nitrogenized  food  he  recovered  in  a  few  weeks.  Sir 
Christopher  Wren§  also  states,  "  that  it  was  of  late  years  found,  that  the  blacks,  who  feed 
only  on  potatoes,  were  apt  to  die  of  the  dropsy;  and,  therefore,  the  planters  had  found  it 
necessary  to  allow  them  milk  and  bread,  which  prevented  it."  And  he  further  observes, 
"that  in  Ireland,  where  the  people  feed  much  on  potatoes,  they  help  themselves,  by  drink- 
ing milk  soured,  to  make  the  potatoes  digest  the  better." 

This  second  argument  has  not,  however,  much  weight ;  since  it  is  well  known  that  an 
exclusive  diet  of  nitrogenized  alimentary  principles  (gluten  excepted)  is  also  incapable  of 
supporting  animal  life.  Fibrine,  albumen,  or  gelatine,  taken  separately,  does  not  support 
life  ;  even  the  artificial  mixture  of  these  principles  is  insufficient  to  preserve  life — for  dogs 
thus  fed,  ultimately  die  with  all  the  signs  of  complete  inanition.  While,  on  the  other 
hand,  a  diet  of  muscular  flesh,  or  of  raw  bones,  or  of  gluten  exclusively,  is  capable  of 
complete  and  prolonged  nutrition.!!  IT 

It  has  been  said,  however,  that  both  gum  and  sugar  are  capable  of  maintaining  human 
existence.  The  asserted  power  of  gum  to  support  life  rests  principally  on  a  story,  told  by 
Hasselquist,**  of  a  caravan  of  more  than  one  thousand  persons,  travelling  from  Abyssinia 
to  Cairo,  and  whose  provision  being  exhausted,  supported  themselves  for  two  months  on 
the  gum  they  were  carrying  as  merchandise.  But  there  are  no  details  given  to  satisfy  us 
of  the  accuracy  of  the  conclusion  which  has  been  drawn  from  it.  Altogether  the  case  is 

of  water,  and  if  this  quantity  contains  but  one  fourth  of  a  grain  of  ammonia,  then  a  field  of  40,000  square 
feet  would  annually  receive  upwards  of  80  Ibs.  of  ammonia,  or  65  Ibs.  of  nitrogen  ;  for  the  annual  fall  of 
rain  over  such  a  surface,  amounts  on  an  average  to  2,500,000  Ibs.  Now,  this  quantity  of  nitrogen  is  much 
more  than  is  contained  in  the  form  of  vegetable  albumen  and  gluten  in  2,650  Ibs.  of  wood,  2,900  Ibs.  of 
hay,  or  200  cwt.  of  beet-root,  which  are  the  yearly  produce  of  such  a  field.  As  the  average  amount  of  air 
respired  by  an  adult  in  twenty-four  hours  is  about  1,510  cubic  feet,  or  57  hogsheads,  the  respiration  of 
20,800  cubic  feet  would  require  thirteen  days  and  a  half,  and  if  a  ihe  nitrogen  contained  in  it  amounted 
to  no  more  than  that  assumed  by  Liebig,  it  would  require  fifty-four  Jays  to  obtain  from  this  source  a  single 
grain  of  nitrogen.  Whe.:  we  consider,  therefore,  the  large  quantity  of  urea  in  urine,  and  that  nearly  45 
per  cent,  of  this  is  ni»-ogen,  the  proportion  obtained  from  inspired  air  would  seem  tc  be  too  small  to  be 
taken  into  account. — L. 

*  Ann.  de  Chim.  et  de  Physique,  t.  iii.  p.  66.  1816.  t  Quoted  by  Miiller. 

\  Ten  thousand  parts  of  potatoes  contain,  according  to  Boussingault,  only  thirty-seven  parts  of  nitrogen. 

§  Birch's  History  of  the  Royal  Society  of  London,  vol.  iv.  p.  93. 

j|  See  the  Report  of  the  Gelatine  Committee,  in  th>  Comples  Rendus  des  Seances  de  V Academic  des 
Sciences,  No.  V.  Aout,  1841.  1  Appendix,  C. 

**  Voyages  and  Travels  in  the  Levant,  p.  298.     London,  1766. 


20  ELEMENTS  OF  FOODS. 


not  one  to  be  relied  on.     Of  the  use  of  gum  by  the  Moors,  Negroes,  and  Hottentots,  we 
have  but  little  detailed  and  satisfactory  information. 

The  evidence  of  the  nutritive  property  of  sugar  will  be  hereafter  stated ;  but  I  may  here 
mention  that  't  applies  principally  to  the  use  of  this  substance  in  an  impure  state,  in  which 
it  contains  nitrogenous  matter.*  Moreover,  it  is  probable  that  nitrogenized  food  is,  in  gen- 
eral, used  in  combination  with  sugar. 

3.  The  third  argument  is,  that  the  food  of all  animals,  herbivorous  and  carnivorous,  con- 
tains nitrogenized  matters,  identical  in  composition  with  the  principal  constitutes  of  the  blood 
and  organized  tissues  of  the  animal  body;  and,  therefore,  the  carbon  of  gam,  sugar,  and 
starch,  and  the  carbon  and  hydrogen  of  {he  fats  and  oils,  are  not  required  for  the  production 
of  blood. 

One  of  the  most  surprising  facts  for  which  we  are  indebted  to  the  school  of  Gies^Mi  is, 
that  vegetables  contain  organic  principles  identical  in  composition  with  animal  fibrine, 
albumen,  and  caseine.  "They  are  not  merely  similar,"  observes  Liebig,  "but  absolutely 
identical,  not  only  in  having  the  same  proportion  of  carbon,  hydrogen,  oxygen,  and  nitro- 
gen, which  the  animal  principles  contain,  but  also  in  possessing  the  same  relative  amount 
of  sulphur,  phosphorus,  and  phosphate  of  lime." 

Fibrine,  albumen,  and  caseine,  both  animal  and  vegetable,  dissolve  in  a  solution  of 
caustic  potash.  If,  to  the  resulting  liquid,  acetic  acid  be  added,  the  same  precipitate  is 
obtained,  whichever  of  the  above  three  principles  has  been  employed.  The  substan^ 
thus  precipitated  has  been  called,  by  its  discoverer,  Mulder,  proteine  (from  wpwrtrfw — /  hold 
the  first  place.)  Its  formula,  according  to  Liebig,  is  Cn  HK  N«  Ou-f  Fibrine,  albumen, 
and  caseine,  are  compounds  of  proteine  and  sulphur,  and,  in  the  case  of  the  two  first  of 
these  bodies,  of  phosphorus  also. 

ANIMAL.  VI:<;F.TABLE. 

Fibrine        .        —Proteine  -4-  S    -j-  Ph.        I        Fibrine        .        =Proteine  -4-  S    -1-  Ph 
Albumen     .         =Proteine  4-  Sa  -f  Ph.  Albumen     .         ^Proteine  -f-  S1  -}-  Ph. 

Caseine       .        —Proteine  -\-  S  |       Caseine       .        =Proteine  -j-  S 

"Vegetable  fibrine  and  animal  fibrine,  vegetable  albumen  and  animal  albumen,  hardly 
differ,"  says  Liebig,  "  even  in  form ;  if  these  principles  be  wanting  in  the  food,  the  nu- 
trition of  the  animal  is  arrested;  and  when  they  are  present,  the  graminivorous  animal 
obtains  in  its  food  the  very  same  principles,  on  the  presence  of  which  the  nutrition  of  the 
carnivora  entirely  depends." 

4.  The  fourth  argument  is,  that  the  quantity  of  nitrogenized  food,  which  herbiiorous  ani- 
mals consume,  is  amply  sujjicient  for  the  growth  and  development  of  their  organs  and  for  the 
supply  of  waste. 

We  are  indebted  to  Boussingaultf  for  the  demonstration  of  the  truth  of  this  statement, 
in  the  case  of  the  cow  and  the  horse.  The  following  table  is  taken  from  his  memoir  :  the 
numbers  represent  French  grammes  [1  gramme=  15-434  grs.  troy.] 

*  An  amusing  illustration  of  this  has  been  furnished  by  Liebig  with  respect  to  the  saccharine  juice 
of  maple  trees,  which  he  found  to  emit  so  much  ammonia  when  mixed  with  lime,  that  suspicion  w:is  at 
first  excited  that  some  malicious  wag  had  introduced  urine  into  it ,  and,  accordingly,  the  vessels,  wh.ca 
hung  upon  the  trees  in  order  to  collect  the  juice,  were  watched  with  great  attention. 

t  Dumas  (Essai  de  Statique  Chimique  de^etres  organises,  p.  56,  2mc  ed.  1842,)  gives  the  following  as  the 
formula  for  fibrine.  albumen,  and  caseum  :  C48  H39  N6  O15.  This  is  equal  to  48  eq  Carbon,  6  eq.  Ammo- 
nium, and  15  eq.  Water :  he  also  states  that  the  analyses  made  in  Liebig's  laboratory  agree  best  with 
the  following :  C<8  H*  N6  O1*,  which  is  equal  to  48  eq.  Carbon,  3  eq.  Ammonium,  3  eq.  Ammonia,  and 
15  eq.  Water. 

t  Ann.  de  Chim.  et  de  Physique,  t.  1m. 


NITROGEN. 


21 


— 
EXCRETIONS  OF  A  HORSE  IN  TWENTY-FOUR  HOURS. 

«         fc*   2 
•3  Is  f}  a 

Gi               CD 
§*^ 
1^ 

rH         lO 

1 

CD 

*  In  Boussingault's  table,  the  quantity  of  carbon  contained  in  the  excrements  is  stated  to  be  1364.4.  This,  however,  is  an  error,  (as  may  be  seen  by  referring  to 
p.  134  of  the  71st  vol.  of  the  Annales  de  Chimie  el  Physique.) 

Uo 

rH         OS 
^         rv| 

rH 

0 

CO 
rH 

uaSoj)i^ 

GO          CO 

i^*      r^» 

CO        i> 

rH 

•ua2ojpX[j 

O        GO 
rH 

CO 
rH 
C5 
rH 

,0W 

i  i 

1     ' 

JMJ 

^  1 

CO 

1  .5   I   | 

CO        ID 

i—  i 

rH 

EXCRETIONS. 

Urine  .... 
Excrements  .  . 

"3 

o 

H 

FOOD  CONSUMED  BY  A  HORSE  IN  TWENTY-FOUR  HOURS. 

s  *  t  S 
"*  §  s  i 

GO          rH          CO 
rH          l^          CO 

s  *-  -• 

CO         CO 

; 

CO 
CO 

,,^o 

O        CO 

1  S 

CO 
CD 
GO 

•ua§o.ui^ 

1^       6? 

O5        -^ 

CO         rH 
rH          rH 

0 
CO 

' 

•uaSojpXjj 

CO        CO 

co      cb 

CO          rH 

ID          CO 
CO          r^ 

r^        C5 
•^i        i—  i 

i 

CO 

; 

•uoqj«3 

P          P 
r~l          ^ 

Oi       Oi 

O        Oi 

1  I 

CO          rH 

rH 
ife 

1 

• 

f^l 

CO          rH 

CO         GO 
00        CO 

CD 

: 

£•          fa    ^ 

rH 

i>  '     GO 

(70           rH 

i 

rH 
O 

!—  1 

'- 

ARTICLES 
OF 
FOOD. 

d) 

>»     -2      ^ 

CO             Cfl           ^. 

ffi      0      t^ 

•    H    • 
H    Q 

O 

o 
o 

CO 

in 

Qj 
0 

»| 

22 


ELEMENTS  OF  FOODS. 


Now  •:  appears  from  this  table,  that  after  deducting  the  nitrogen  of  the  urine  and  ex- 
crements from  that  contained  in  the  food,  the  surplus  quantity  is  24  grammes,  (370TVo*o 
grs.  troy  )  and  if  we  assume  that  ordinary  blood  contains  80  per  cent  of  water,  and  that 
the  dry  residue  (20  per  cent.)  contains  15-07  per  cent,  of  nitrogen,  it  follows  that  370fVo°o 
grs.  troy  of  nitrogen  are  sufficient  to  form  2457TYoVo  gi"s.  troy  of  dried  blood,  or 
122S9TY?f7o  £rs-  tr°y  (equal  to  lib.  12  oz.  40  grs.  avoirdupois)  of  ordinary  blood:  in  other 
words,  about  Ifib.  avoirdupois  of  blood  may  be  formed  daily  from  the  above  quantity 
of  food. 

Moreover  100  parts  of  dried  blood  contain  51*96  of  carbon,  and,  therefore,  2457TYoVo 
grs.  troy  contain  about  1277  grs.  troy  of  carbon.  If,  therefore,  we  abstract  the  latter  quan- 
tity from  38046T3^o3o4o  grs-  tr°y  (=2465'1  grammes,)  the  residual  carbon  in  Boussingault's 
table,  we  have  36369  yV^o"  grs.'troy  (5  IDS.  3oz.  56^grs.  avoirdupois)  of  carbon  to  be 
thrown  out  of  the  system  by  '«e  lungs  and  skin  in  the  form  of  carbonic  acid.  Now  Bous- 
singault  calculates  that  a  horse  expires  daily  28078  grs.  troy  (about  4  Ibs.  avoirdupois) 
of  carbon. 

I  have  thus  endeavored  to  lay  before  my  readers  the  opinions  recently  advanced  with 
respect  to  the  uses  of  nitrogenized  and  non-nitrogenized  foods  in  the  animal  economy. 
These  opinions  may  be  thus  briefly  stated  : — 

1.  Nitrogenized  foods  are  alone  capable  of  conversion  into  blood,  and  of  forming  organ- 
ized tissues. 

2.  Nitrogenized  foods  which  contain  proteine,  as  albumen,  fibrine,  caseine,  and  gluten, 
alone  form  the  albuminous  and  fibrinous  tissues. 

3.  Gelatine  is  incapable  of  conversion  into  blood  ;  but  it  may  perhaps  serve  for  the"  nu- 
trition of  the  gelatinous  tissues,  (cellular  tissue,  membrane,  and  cartilage.) 

4.  Non-nitrogenized  foods  support  the  process  of  respiration  by  yielding  carbon,  and,  in 
some  cases,  hydrogen,  to  be  burnt  in  the  lungs,  and  thereby  to  keep  up  the  animal  tem- 
perature. 

5.  Some  of  the  non-nitrogenized  foods  contribute  to  the  formation  of  fat,  the  carbon  and 
hydrogen  of  which  are  ultimately  burnt  in  the  lungs,  and  thereby  develop  heat. 

6.  With  the  exception  of  the  substance  of  cellular  tissue,  of  membranes,  and  of  the  brain 
and  nerves,  all  the  organic  materials  of  which  the  animal  body  is  composed  are  derived 
from  vegetables,  which  alone  possess  the  property  of  producing  compounds  of  proteine. 

The  evidence  hitherto  adduced  in  favor  of  these  opinions,  I  have  already  briefly  noticed 
and  criticised.  I  propose  now  to  state  a  few  circumstances  which  appear  to  me  to  rai.se 
some  difficulties  or  objections  to  the  unqualified  admission  of  the  opinions  above  refer- 
red to. 

1.  When  benzoic  acid,  a  non-nitrogenous  substance,  is  taken  into  the  stomach,  it  ap- 
pears in  the  urine  it)  the  form  of  hippuric  acid.  For  this  fact  we  are  indebted  to  Dr. 
Alexander  Ure.  This  hippuric  acid  is  probably  formed  by  the  elements  of  the  benzoic 
acid,  with  the  addition  of  those  of  lactate  of  urea. 


1  oq.  Urea     . 
1  eq.  Lactic  Acid 
1  eq.  Benzoic  Acid 


Total 


C'  N»  IP  0' 
C«  —  H<  0« 
C»  -  H10  O8 


2  eq.  crystallized 
Hippuric  Acid 


c*  N,  HM  o,9 

v 


It  cannot,  therefore,  be  doubted,  "  that  a  non-azotized  substance,  taken  in  the  food,  can 
take  a  share,  by  means  of  its  elements,  in  the  act  of  transformation  of  the  animal  ti.- 
and  in  the  formation  of  a  secretion."    Consequently,  the  possibility  of  the  conversion  of 


NITROGEN. 


23 


non-nitrogenized  foods  into  nitrogenized  constituents  of  the  animal  oody  does  not  appear 
by  any  means  improbable. 

2.  Lisbig's  explanation  of  the  uses  of  nitrogenized  and  non- nitrogenized  foods  does  not 
account  for  the  fact  stated  by  the  Commissioners  of  the  French  Academy,*  that  while 
fibrine,  albumen,  and  gelatine,  taken  together  or  separately,  are  incapable  of  supporting 
animal  life,  gluten  from  wheat  or  maize  is  alone  sufficient  to  satisfy  complete  and  pro- 
longed nutrition.     As  fibrine,  aloumen,  and  gluten,  are  said  to  be  identical  in  composition, 
their  nutritive  powers  ought  to  be  equal.f 

3.  According  to  Liebig  and  Dumas,  sugar  is  an  element  of  respiration.'    Now  as  it  can 
on,/  reacii  the  lungs  by  means  of  the  blood,  traces  of  it  ought  to  be  found  in  this  fluid  : 
yet  it  does  not  appear  that  sugar  is  a  constituent  of  healthy  blood.    At  least  it  has  not 
hitherto  been  found  in  it,  though  To-^oTth  Pa^t  of  sugar  added  to  blood  can  be  readily  de- 
tected.J     This  circumstance,  therefore,  seems  rather  to  show  that  sugar  undergoes  some 
complete  change  in  its  nature  previous  to  its  passage  into  the  blood.     Several  facts  favor 
this  opinion.     In  the  first  place, — of  the  foods  (viz.  yolk  of  eggs,  and  milk,)  supplied  by 
nature  for  the  early  stages  of  animal  existence,  sugar  is  found  only  in  that  food  (milk) 
which  undergoes  digestion  before  its  application  to  the  purposes  of  the  economy     Sec- 
ondly, in  diabetes,  the  digestive  powers  are  greatly  impaired,  and  saccharine  assimilation 
is  suspended.     Sugar  is  then  detected  in  the  blood.     Now  it  cannot  be  said  that  its  pres- 
ence is  owing  to  any  defect  in  the  respiratory  process,  since  fatty  matter  appears  to  suffer 
the  ordinary  changes  in  the  pulmonary  organs. 

4.  According  to  Dr.  Prout,§  the  contents  of  the  stomachs  of  animals  fed  on  vegetable 
substances,  even  when  fully  digested,  and  about  to  pass  the  pylorus,  exhibit  no  traces  of 
an  albuminous  principle ;  while  the  chvmous  mass  of  animals  fed  on  animal  food  contains 
albumen. 

COMPOSITION  OF  THE  CHYMOUS  MASS  FROM  THE  DUODENUM  OF  THE  DOG. 


Vegetable 
Food. 

Animal 
Food. 

Water         

86-5 

80-0 

Chyme,  &c  

6-0 

15-8 

Albuminous  Matter    . 

1-3 

Biliary  Principle 
Vegetable  Gluten  ?             .                 . 

1-6 
5-0 

1-7 

Saline  Matters   ... 

0-7 

0-7 

Insoluble  Residuum   . 

,  0-2 

0-5 

100-0 

100-0 

It  would  appear,  therefore,  that  albumen  is  formed  subsequently  to  the  passage  of  the 
chyme  into  the  duodenum.  Now  this  is  in  complete  contradiction  to  Liebig's  statement, 
that  albumen  pre-exists  in  the  vegetable  food  of  the  herbivora,  and  is  not  formed  in  the 

*  Camples  Rendus,  Aout,  1842. 

t  Tiedemann  and  Gmelin  found  it  impossible  to  sustain  the  life  of  geese  by  means  of  boiled  white  of 
•gg.  "  This,"  says  Liebig,  (Animal  Chemistry,  p.  106,)  "  may  be  easily  explained,  when  we  reflect  that 
a  graminivorous  animal,  especially  when  deprived  of  free  motion,  cannot  obtain,  from  the  transformation 
or  wav'e  of  the  tissues  alone,  enough  of  carbon  for  the  respiratory  process.  21bs.  [Hessian]  of  albumen 
contain  only  34  oz.  [Hessian]  of  carbon,  of  which,  among  the  last  products  jf  transformation,  a  fourth 
part  is  given  off  in  the  form  of  uric  acid. 

t  Tromer,  (P'inrmat,e»  tisches  Central-Blatt  fur  1841,  p.  764.) 

<5  Annuls  of  Philosophy,  vol.  xiii.  1819. 


124  ELEMENTS  OF  FOODS. 


nnimal  economy.*  Dr.  Prout's  statement  harmonizes  well  with  another  fact,  well  known 
to  physiologists,  namely,  the  non-existence  of  fibrine  in  the  contents  of  the  duodenum, 
though,  according  to  Liebig,  this  principle' also  pre-exists  in  the  food  of  animals,  arid  is  not 
formed  by  them.  It  has  even  been  said  that  the  chyle  contains  no  iibrine  until  after  its 
passage  through  the  mesenteric  glands.f 

5.  If  the  nitrogenized  substances  requisite  for  the  nutrition   of  the  animal  body  exist 
ready  formed  in  plants,  the  necessity  of  more  complex  organs  of  digestion  for  the  herbivora 
than  for  the  carnivora  is  not  very  obvious.     LiebigJ  thinks  that  it  "  is  rather  owing  to  the 
difficulty  of  rendering  soluble  and  available  for  the  vital  processes  certain  non-azotized 
compounds  (gum  ?  amylaceous  fibre  1)  than  to  any  thing  in  the  change  or  transformation 
of  vegetable  fibrine,  albumen,  and  caseine,  into  blood;  since,  for  this  latter  purpose,  the 
less  complex  digestive  apparatus  of  the  carnivora  is  amply  sufficient."     But  this  suggestion 
is  not  a  very  satisfactory  one.     Gummy  and  amylaceous  substances  are  eaten,  and,  appa- 
rently, digested,  by  some  animals  which  are  essentially  carnivorous  in  the  structure  of  their 
alimentary  canal.     Moreover,  as  the  leading  distinction  in  the  food  of  the  herbivora  and 
carnivora  consists  in  the  use,  by  the  former,  of  substances  containing  vegetable  fibrine, 
albumen,  and  caseine,  while  the  latter  employ  animal  fibrine,  albumen,  and  caseine, — it 
appears  more  natural  to  connect  the  peculiarity  in  the  structure  of  the  digestive  organs 
with  the  nitrogenized,  than  with  the  non-nitrogenized  food. 

6.  No  plausible  explanation  has  hitherto  been  offered,  by  Liebig,  or  others,  of  the  i 

sity  for  the  variation  of  diet,  and  for  the  use  of  succulent  vegetables  or  fruits,  which  ex- 
perience has  shown  to  be  necessary  for  the  preservation  of  human  health  and  life.  Liebig 
has  shown  that  food  must  contain  both  a  plastic  element  of  nutrition  and  an  element  of 
respiration ;  but  it  is  well  known  that  a  diet  (as  of  salt  meat  and  biscuit)  which  fulfils 
both  of  these  conditions,  is  not  always  sufficient  to  preserve  health  and  life. 

It  cannot  be  a  matter  of  doubt  that  non-nitrogenized  substances  are  intended  by  nature 
to  constitute  part  of  the  food  of  man  and  other  animals,  but  especially  of  the  herbivora, 
since  we  find  them  in  the  aliments  supplied  by  nature  for  animals  during  the  first  period 
of  their  existence.  Thus,  in  the  yolk  of  egg  (the  food  of  the  embryo  chick)  we  find  fixed 
oil, — and  in  milk  we  have  sugar  and  butter,  both  non-nitrogenous  principles.  If  to 
proofs  we  further  add  the  fondness  of  animals  for  nitrogenized  substances,  the  craving,  nay, 
almost  insatiable  desire,  for  them,  manifested  by  individuals  who  are  deprived  of  th.-m, 
and  the  fact  before  mentioned,  that  nitrogenized  food  alone  cannot  support  life,  not  a  doubt 
can  remain  in  our  minds  that  these  principles  are  essential  to  health  and  life. 

In  commencing  our  inquiry,  then,  into  the  particular  purpose  they  serve  in  the  animal 
economy,  I  would  observe,  in  the  first  place,  that  with  the  exception  of  fat,  none  of  them 
are  constituents  of  the  animal  system  ;  nor  in  a  state  of  health  are  they  found  in  the 
blood$  or  the  excretions.  It  is  obvious,  therefore,  that  they  must  suffer  some  change  or 
transformation  in  the  organism.  Now  they  all  consist  of  carbon,  hydrogen,  and  ox 
In  starch,  sugar,  and  gum,  the  hydrogen  and  oxygen  are  exactly  in  the  ratio  to  form  wa- 

*  I  have  already  (p.  18)  noticed  Dr.  Prout's  suggestion  of  the  possible  secretion  of  nitrogen!;  ed  matter 
by  the  duodenum,  for  the  purpose  of  converting  non-nitrogenized  foods  into  the  nitrogenized  constitu- 
ents of  the  body. 

t  Gulliver  (English  Translation  of  Gerber's  Anatomy,  p.  94)  says  he  has  seen  a  distinct  clot  in  the 
chj  le  of  the  afferent  lacteals.  In  this  case,  therefore,  fibrin  must  have  been  present. 

t  Animal  Chemistry,  p.  165. 

$  "  Hitherto  grape  sugar  has  not  been  detected  in  the  blood,  though  y^^^  part  of  it,  added  to  blood, 
can  he  readily  detected,"  (Trommer,  Pharmacftidschcs  Cinlral-BlaU  fur  1841,  p.  764.) 


NITROGEN.  25 


ter.  Do  they,  therefore,  contribute  carbon,  and  in  some  cases  hydrogen  also,  to  assist  in 
the  formation  of  blood1?  Liebig  asserts  they  do  not,  for  he  observes  that  as  the  nitrogen- 
ized  principles  used  as  food  contain  exactly  the  "amount  of  carbon  [and  hydrogen]  which 
is  required  for  the  production  of  fibrine  and  albumen,"  it  follows  that  th?,  carbon  of  gum, 
sugar,  and  starch,  and  the  carbon  and  hydrogen  of  butter  and  other  fats,  cannot  "be  em- 
ployed in  the  production  of  blood."  If  the  nitrogenized  principles  contained  less  carbon 
than  albumen  and  fibrine,  then  starch,  sugar,  gum,  and  fat,  might  give  up  some  carbon 
to  compensate  the  difference.  He,  therefore,  concludes,  that  these  bodies  yield  their  car- 
bon, arid,  when  their  hydrogen  is  in  excess  to  their  oxygen,  part  of  their  hydrogen  also, 
to  form,  with  atmospheric  oxygen,  carbonic  acid  and  water,  and,  therefore,  to  develop 
heat.  They  serve  to  protect  the  organism  from  the  action  of  the  oxygen,  which,  in  the 
a-bsence  of  food,  consumes  the  tissues.  "  If,"  says  Liebig,  "  we  observe  a  man  or  other 
animal  in  sickness,  or  at  any  time  when  the  body  is  not  supplied  with  nourishment  to 
compensate  for  the  continual  loss,  we  find  him  to  become  lean  ;  the  fat  is  the  first  to  dis- 
appear, it  x^anishes  through  the  skin  and  lungs  in  the  form  of  carbonic  acid  and  water, 
as  none  of  it  can  be  found  in  the  faeces  or  urine :  it  resists  the  action  of  the  atmosphere 
on  the  body,  and  is  a  protection  to  the  organs.  But  the  action  of  the  atmosphere  does 
not  end  with  the  loss  of  fat :  every  soluble  substance  of  the  body  enters  into  combination 
with  the  oxygen  of  the  air.  The  influence  of  the  oxygen  of  the  atmosphere  is  the  cause 
of  death  in  most  chronic  diseases ;  from  want  of  carbon  to  resist  its  action,  that  of  the 
nerves  and  brain  is  used.  In  a  normal  state  of  health  and  nutrition,  the  carbon  of  the 
carbonic  acid  must  have  another  source."  Thus,  then,  it  would  appear  that  nitrogenized 
aliments  alone  are  assimilated :  the  non-nitrogenous  ones  are  burnt  in  the  lungs. 

But  it  may  be  asked,  why,  if  both  sugar  and  fat  serve  merely  for  combustion  in  the 
lungs,  are  both  of  these  principles  contained  in  the  milk,  since,  theoretically,  one  of  them 
would  appear  to  be  sufficient  1  Moreover,  if  sugar  be  burnt  in  the  lungs,  is  it  not  re- 
markable that,  as  I  have  already  stated,  (p.  24,)  it  has  not,  in  the  healthy  system,  been 
detected  while  in  its  passage  from  the  digestive  organs  to  the  lungs  ]  Surely  some  traces 
of  it  ought  to  be  recognizable  in  the  blood.  Hitherto,  however,  none  have  been  found. 
Does  not  this  fact  seem  to  show  that  it  undergoes  some  transmutation  during  digestion, 
differing  from  that  which  fatty  substances  suffer.  The  yolk  of  the  egg  serves  directly 
for* the  nourishment  of  the  embryo  chick,  but  it  contains  one  non-nitrogenized  organic 
principle  (oil)  only.  But  milk,  which  also  serves  for  animal  food,  contains  two,  (butter 
and  sugar.)  Now  milk  requires  to  be  digested  before  it  can  be  assimilated  :  whereas 
yolk  of  egg  does  not, — in  fact,  it  serves  for  food  before  the  digestive  organs  are  devel- 
oped. This  fact,  therefore,  favors  the  notion  that  sugar  is  in  some  way  connected  with 
the  digestive  process. 

Alcohol  is  classed  among  the  elements  of  respiration;  and  it  cannot  be  doubted  that 
it  undergoes  some  change  in  the  animal  economy.  When  taken  into  the  stomach  it  is 
absorbed,  and  gets  into  the  circulating  mass.  Now,  how  does  it  get  out  of  the  system  ] 
Certainly  not  by  the  bowels,  urine,  or  skin.  A  portion  of  it  escapes  by  the  lungs,  and  is 
recognizable  by  its  odor  in  the  breath ;  bu^the  quantity  in  this  way  thrown  out  of  the 
system  is  comparatively  small,  and  is  certainly  quite  disproportionate  to  that  often  swal 
lowed.  Moreover,  it  is  principally  when  the  quantity  taken  is  very  large  that  it  is  most 
recognizable  in  the  breath  ; — when,  in  fact,  the  function  of  respiration  is  very  imperfectly 
performed.  What,  then,  becomes  of  it  ?  By  itself  it  cannot  form  tissues,  since  it  is  de- 
ficient in  some  of  their  essential  ingredients,  namely,  nitrogen,  suiphur,  and  phosphorus; 
and  therj  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  it  contributes,  even  in  part,  to  the  renovation  of 


20  ELEMENTS  OF  FOODS. 


tissues.  Liebig's  suggestion,  that  it  is  burnt  in  the  lungs,  and  thereby  converted  into 
carbonic  acid  and  water,  appears  to  me  a  very  plausible  one.  Now,  to  convert  it  into 
these  substances,  it  merely  requires  oxygen. 

CONVERSION  OF  ALCOHOL  INTO  CARBONIC  ACID  AND  WATER. 


Alcohol C<H8O> 

Oxygen O12 


Carbonic  Acid     .     .     .     .     C4  —  O8 
Water    .  .     —  IP  O8 


Total     .  .     C«H«CM- 


Total C1  H8  O1 


By  its  oxidation  in  the  lungs  it  must  evolve  caloric,  and  thus,  when  used  in  modera- 
tion, it  serves  to  support  the  temperature  of  the  body. 

Alcohol,  therefore,  is  a  fuel  in  the  animal  economy,  by  the  combustion  of  which  caloric 
is  evolved.  Common  experience  favors  this  view.  Coachmen  and  others  take  it  in  cold 
weather  to  keep  them  warm,  and  it  is  familiarly  used  to  prevent  what  i.s  commonly  called 
"  catching  cold."  In  cases  of  extreme  suffering  and  exhaustion  from  excessive  exertion 
and  privation  of  food,  the  cautious  and  moderate  dietetical  use  of  spirit  has,  on  many 
occasions,  proved  invaluable.  In  Captain  Bligh's  account*  of  the  sufferings  of  himself 
and  companions,  in  consequence  of  the  mutiny  of  the  crew  of  the  Bounty,  he  ob- 
serve?, "The  little  rum  we  had  was  of  great  service  :  when  our  nights  were  particu- 
larly distressing,  I  generally  served  a  tea-spoonful  or  two  to  each  person:  and  it  was 
joyful  tidings  when  they  heard  of  my  intentions."  It  is  said,  that  the  inhabitants  of 
colder  climates  take  more  spirit  than  others,  and  with  less  injury.  Liebig  accounts  for 
this  by  saying  that  they  inhale  a  more  condensed  air,  that  is,  they  take  in  more  oxygen 
at  every  inspiration ;  combustion  is  more  rapid  in  them,  and  thus  the  elements  of  the  al- 
cohol are  more  speedily  got  rid  of.  f 

I  trust  that  in  offering  these  remarks  on  the  effects  of  alcohol,  I  may  not  be  mi.-und.T- 
stood.  Though  alcohol  evolves  heat  in  burning,  it  is  an  obnoxious  fuel.  Its  volatility, 
and  the  facility  with  which  it  permeates  membranes  and  tissues,  enable  it  to  be  rapidly 
absorbed ;  and  when  it  gets  into  the  blood  it  exerts  a  most  injurious  operation,  be: 
is  burnt  in  the  lungs,  on  the  brain  and  the  liver.}:  Though  by  its  combustion  heat  is 
evolved,  yet,  under  ordinary  circumstances,  there  are  other  better,  safer,  and  less  injuri- 
ous combustibles  to  be  burned  in  the  vital  lamp.}  . 

Some  of  these  non-nitrogenized  foods  serve  another  purpose  in  the  animal  economy — 
they  contribute  to  the  formation  offal.  Wlu-n  the  quantity  of  these  foods  taken  into  the 
stomach  is  great,  that  is,  out  of  proportion  to  the  quantity  of  oxygen  absorbed  by  thu 
lungs,  fat  is,  under  some  circumstances,  formed.  Sugar,  starch,  and  gum,  become,  by 
the  loss  of  part  of  their  oxygen,  fat ;  for  the  relative  proportion  of  their  carbon  and  hy- 
drogen is  almost  identical  with  that  of  fat. 


*  Voynge  to  the  South  Seas  in  1787-9,  p.  190.     Lond.  1792. 

t  The  Highlanders,  who  it  is  well  known  are  immoderate  drinkers,  pretend  that  spirit  does  not  intoxi- 
cate in  ihe  Hills  as  it  would  do  in  the  Low  Country.  (See  Letters  from  a  Gentleman  in  the  North  oj 
Scotland  to  liis  Friend  n  London,  vol.  ii.  p.  161,  5th  ed.  Lond.  1318.) 

I  Alcohol  acts  on  the  stomach  belbre  it  is  absorbed.     Its  operation  on  the  brain  and  liver  are  probably 
referable  to  its  topical  action  on  these  organs  after  it  gets  into  the  blood  ;  for  it  has  been  detected  both 
in  the  brain  and  liver  of  those  who  have  died  under  its  influence.     (See  my  Elements  of  Mutcria  .' 
vol.  i.  p.  359,  2d  edit.) 

$  Appendix,  D. 


NITROGEN.  27 


RELATIVE  PROPORTIONS  OF  CARBON  AND  HYDROGEN  IN  SOME 
NON-NITROGENIZED  PRINCIPLES. 

Starch  contains  .        79  Carbon  to  10-99  Hydrogen 

Sugar      .  79      —  11-80        — 

Gum        .                        79      —  "  11-80        — 

Mutton  fat  .        79      —  «  11-1          — 

Human  fat                      79      —  «  11-4         — 

Hog's  lard                       79      —  "  11-7         — 

Some  facts  adduced  by  Liebig  are  almost  conclusive  that  starch  and  sugar  may  become 
;onverted  into  fat  in  the  animal  economy.  A  lean  goose  weighing  41bs.  gained,  in  thirty- 
six  days,  during  which  it  was  fed  with  241bs.  of  maize,  51bs.  in  weight,  and  yielded  3$lbs. 
of  fat.  Now  this  fat  could  not  have  been  contained  in  the  food  ready  formed,  because 
maize  does  not  contain  the  thousandth  part  of  its  weight  of  fat,  or  of  any  substances 
resembling  fat.  A  certain  number  of  bees,  the  weight  of  which  was  exactly  known,  were 
fed  with  pure  honey  devoid  of  wax.  They  yielded  one  part  of  wax  for  every  twenty 
parts  of  honey  consumed,  without  any  change  being  perceptible  in  their  health  or  in  their 
weight.  I  agree  with  Liebig,  that  with  these  facts  before  us,  "  it  is  impossible  any  longer 
to  entertain  doubt  as  to  the  formation  of  fat  from  sugar  in  the  animal  body.*  f  J 

Now,  alcohol  is  an  element  of  respiration.  Does  it  form  fat  7  I  think  not.  In  the 
first  place,  its  carbon  and  hydrogen  are  not  in  the  ratio  of  those  of  fat,  for  it  contains  79 
parts  of  carbon  to  1974  of  hydrogen.  Secondly,  we  do  not  find  that  spirit  drinkers  are 
fat ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  emaciated.  Hogarth,  in  his  Beer  Alley  and  Gin  Lane,  has 
ludicrously  though  faithfully  represented  the  differences  in  the  appearance  of  beer  topers 
and  spirit  tipplers.  The  first  are  plump,  rubicund,  and  bloated  ;  the  latter  are  pale,  tot- 
tering, emaciated,  and  miserable. 

But,  it  may  be  asked,  what  is  the  use  of  fat  in  the  animal  economy  1  It  is  a  reservoir 
of  food.  During  long  fasting  and  hybernation  it  is  absorbed  and  consumed.  It  is  the 
food  apparently  on  which  the  animal,  at  these  times,  exists.  Is  it  then  capable  of  reno- 
vating the  tissues ;  and,  if  so,  where  does  it  derive  the  necessary  quantity  of  nitrogen  ? 
Liebig  asserts  that  it  does  not  renovate.  It  merely  yields,  he  says,  carbon  and  hydrogen 
to  be  burnt  in  the  lungs,  by  which  the  animal  temperature  is  supported  without  the  living 
organs  being  oxidized  and  destroyed.  Dr.  Prout,  on  the  other  hand,  as  I  have  already 
stated,  (p.  18,)  believes  that  fat  may  be  converted  into  most,  if  not  all,  the  matters  neces- 
sary for  the  existence  of  animal  bodies.^ 

Nutritive  equivalents. — Several  writers  have  endeavored  to  form  a  scale  of  nutritive 
equivalents,  the  value  of  which,  if  accurate,  will  be  universally  admitted.  Boussingault 
has  suggested  one,  founded  on  the  quantity  of  nitrogen  contained  in  foods. 

BOUSSINGAULTS  SCALE  OF  NUTRITIVE  EQUIVALENTS. 


Substances.  Equivts. 

Wheat-flour      ....         100 

Wheat 107 

Barley-meal      ...  119 

Barley       ....  130 


Substances.  Equivts. 
White  haricots         ...          56 

Lentils 57 

White  garden  cabbage     .        .  810 
Ditto,  dried  at  2 12=                    .          83 


*  The  mode  of  promoting  obesity,  practised  in  certain  parts  of  the  world,  lends  support  to  the  above 
statements.  If  "  we  can  trust  to  the  reports  of  physicians  who  have  resided  in  the  East,"  says  Liebig, 
"  the  Turkish  women,  in  their  diet  of  rice,  and  in  the  frequent  use  of  enemata  of  strong  soup,  have 
united^he  conditions  necessary  for  the  formation  both  of  cellular  tissue  and  fat."  M.  Caullet  de  Vau- 
raoral,  quoted  by  Mrs.  Walker,  (Female  Beauty,  p.  171.  Lond.  1837,)  states  that  in  the  Bey's  seraglio 
at  Tripoli,  women  are  fattened  against  a  certain  day  by  means  of  repose  and  baths,  assisted  by  a  diet  of 
Turkish  flour,  mixed  with  honey.  Fifteen  days,  he  says,  were  sufficient  for  the  purpose. 

t  See  page  t  Appendix  E.  §  Appendix,  F. 


28 


ELEMENTS  OF  FOODS. 


Substanc;*- 
Oats 

Kve  ... 

Rice 

Buckwheat; 
Maize,  or  Indian  corn 
Horse-beans 
Peas 


Equivts. 
117 
111 
177 
108 
138 
41 
67 


Substances. 
Potatoes    . 

Ditto,  kept  10  months 
Ditto,  dried  at  212° 
Carrot 

Ditto  dried  at  212°  . 
Jerusalem  artichoke 
Turnips  . 


Equivta. 
613 
894 
126 
757 
95 
539 
1335 


It  will  be  observed,  that  in  this  table  44  parts  of  horse-beans,  or  67  of  peas,  are  repre- 
sented as  being  equal  in  nutritive  power  to  100  parts  of  wheat  flour.  Surely,  this  cannot 
be  correct  ?  Liebig  admits,  that  though  lentils,  beans,  and  peas,  surpass  all  other  vegeta- 
ble food  in  the  quantity  of  nitrogen  they  contain,  yet  that  they  possess  but  small  value  as 
articles  of  nourishment,  because  they  are  deficient  in  the  component  parts  of  the  bones, 
(subphosphate  of  lime  and  magnesia  ;)  they  satisfy  the  appetite  without  increasing  the 
strength.  If  this  explanation  be  correct,  it  suggests  the  use  of  bone-ashes  with  either 
horse-beans  or  peas,  as  constituting  a  most  nutritive  and  economical  food.* 

It  may  be  objected  that  all  nitrogenized  vegetable  principles  are  not  nutritive,  for  the 
most  powerful  of  the  vegetable  poisons,  as  the  vegetable  alkalies,  are  nitrogenized  ;f  and, 
therefore,  the  presence  of  such  substances  would  lower  the  nutritive  equivalent.  '> 
over,  rain-water  contains  ammonia,  which  being  contained  in  the  vegetable  juices,  would 
lead  to  an  erroneous  estimate  of  the  nutritive  value  of  many  plants.  Boussingault  has 
met  the  first  of  these  objections  by  observing,  that  these  violent  poisons  are  not  found  in 
appreciable  quantity  in  alimentary  plants ;  and,  therefore,  a  vegetable  substance  which 
has  been  accepted  as  animal  nourishment  may  be  inferred  to  be  devoid  of  any  hurtful 
principle. 

Bat  this  assertion  must  be  received  with  considerable  limitation.  The  solanina  of  po- 
tatoes, the  svlphosinapisin  of  white  mustard,  and  the  myronic  acid  of  black  mustard,  are 
nitrogenized,  though  not  nutritive,  principles,  which  occur  in  substances  used  as  food, 
and  whose  presence  must  erroneously  lower  the  nutritive  equivalent ;  that  : 
estimated  nutritive  value  of  the  substances  in  which  they  are  respectively  contained. 
And  if  we  were  to  apply  Boussingault's  principle  to  animal  substances,  we  should 


*  The  views  of  Dr.  Prout  do  not  seem  to  differ  essentially  from  those  of  the  Author  in  relation  to 
the  use  of  fat  in  the  animal  economy.      Dr.  Prout  remarks,  "that  the  oleaginous  principle  may 
verted  into  most,  if  not  into  all  the  matters  necessary  for  the  existence  of  animal  fto.ii, •».  -<•<  m 
proved  by  the  well-known  fact  that  the  life  of  an  animal  may  be  prolonged  by  the  absorption  of  the 
oleaginous  matter  contained  within  its  own  body."     Dr.  Prout  does  not  maintain  that  fat  is  capable  of 
renovating  the  tissues,  but  only  that  it  may  serve  to  prolong  animal  life;  an  opinion  entirely  coincident 
with  that  of  Liebig.— L. 

t  Liebig  asserts  that  all  the  [vegetable]  poisons  contain  nitrogen.  But  anth<tir\i,  the  active  principle 
of  the  Upas  poison,  is  devoid  of  it.  Moreover,  daterin  is  a  non-nitrogenized  principle.  Furthermore, 
no  ratio  can  be  observed  between  the  proportion  of  nitrogen  and  the  physiological  efl'ect  of  the  \ 
ble  nitrogenized  substances.  Thus,  solanina  contains  1-61,  picrotoxine  1-3,  morphia  about  5.  strychnia 
about  8,  quina  8  64,  and  caffeine  23-78,  per  cent,  of  nitrogen  ;  yet  solanina  is  a  poison,  caffi  -n*'  not  so. 
Lastly,  the  difference  between  the  per  centnge  composition  of  quina  and  strychnia  is  too  s!i<.  t  to  admit 
of  safe  conclusions  being  drawn  as  to  the  cause  of  the  difference  of  the  operation  of  those  tv  .  bmliea. 


Carbon 
Hydrogen 
Nitrogen 
Oi -gen 


74-08 
7-40 
8-64 
9-88 

100-00 


76-08 
663 
8-07 
9-22 

100-00 


PHOSPHORUS.  29 


in  the  outset  meet  a  difficulty,  in  the  case  of  gelatine,*  which  contains  a  larger  amount 
of  nitrogen  than  either  flesh  or  blood,  but  which,  according  to  Liebig,  is  capable  ?f  nour- 
ishing the  gelatinous  tissues  only. 

But,  notwithstanding  these  and  other  drawbacks  to  its  accuracy,  this  mode  of  forming 
a  scale  of  nutritive  equivalents  is  of  great  interest  and  value,  on  account  of  the  extreme 
difficulty  of  arriving  at  correct  results  by  practical  methods. 

5.  PHOSPHOKUS. — This  is  a  constituent  of  both  animals  and  vegetables.  Tt  is  an  essen- 
tial ingredient  of  albumen  and  fibrine,  and  of  all  tissues  composed  of  those  principles. 
Nervous  matter  also  contains  it.  Its  existence  in  the  brain  has  been  long  known.  In 
1834,  Couerbef  advanced  an  absurd  notion,  that  the  healthy  or  morbid  conditions  of  the 
mental  faculties  were  connected  with  variations  in  the  amount  of  this  substance  in  the 
cerebral  matter.  "  In  the  brains  of  sane  men,"  says  he,  "  I  have  found  from  2  to  2*5  per 
cent,  of  phosphorus ;  in  those  of  idiots  only  1  or  1*5 ;  while  in  those  of  madmen  there 
are  from  3  to  4'5  per  cent. !"  It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say,  that  the  accuracy  of  this 
assertion  has  been  disproved ;  and  LassaigneJ  fixes  the  amount  of  phosphorus  in  the 
brains  of,  madmen  at  from  1'93  to  T97  per  cent 

The  bones  also  contain  phosphorus,  which  exists  in  them  in  combination  with  oxygen 
and  lime  principally,  constituting  a  subphosphate  of  lime,  (bone  ash.)  Phosphorus  is 
also  a  constituent  of  the  sexual  apparatus.  It  is  found  in  the  spermatic  fluid,  and  in  the 
ovary. 

As  it  is  thus  a  necessary  ingredient  of  the  animal  body,  it  must,  of  course,  be  an  ele- 
ment of  the  food  of  animals.  Thus  it  is  a  constituent  of  the  yolk  of  eggs,  the  food  of 
thf>  embryo  chick.  "One  great  use  of  tfu  .^olk,"  says  Dr.  Prout,§  "evidently  is  to  fur- 
nish the  phosphorus,  entering  as  phosphoric  acid,  into  the  skeleton  of  the  animal."  In 
milk  (the  aliment  of  young  mammals)  it  is  also  a  constant  ingredient,  existing  as  sub- 
phosphate  of  lime. 

It  is  a  constituent  of  the  blood,  the  flesh,  and  the  bones  of  animals  employed  by  man 
as  food.  In  the  bones  it  exists,  as  I  have  just  stated,  in  the  form  of  subphosphate  of  lime, 
which  salt  is  also  found  in  the  blood  and  flesh.  But  fibrine  and  albumen,  both  of  them 
constituents  of  blood  and  flesh,  contain  phosphorus.  In  what  state,  it  may  be  asked, 
does  it  exist  in  these  organic  principles  ?  When  separated  by  an  alkali,  (potash,)  it  is 
found  as  phosphorus  or  phosphoric  acid.  Now  it  has  been  supposed  that  the  oxygen  of 
this  acid  was  derived  from  the  potash,  the  potassium  of  which  combined  with  the  sul- 
phur found  in  both  fibrine  and  albumen.  But  caseine  yields  equally  sulphuret  of  potas- 
sium when  treated  with  caustic  potash,  although  it  contains  no  phosphorus  to  abstract 
the  oxygen.  Hence,  then,  it  is  not  known  precisely  in  what  form  phosphorus  exists  in 
fibrine  and  albumen.  Fishes  are  especially  rich  in  phosphoric  matter ;  a  fact  which  ex- 

*  Tli  3  reader  is  referred  to  the  Comptes  Rendus  des  Seances  de  TAcadcmie  dcs  Sciences,  Aout,  1841, 
for  the  Report  made  by  the  Gelatine  Committee.  This  report  is  the  result  of  ten  years'  labor.  The  re- 
porter (31  Magendie)  shows  that  though  raw  bones  are  capable  of  effecting  the  complete  and  prolonged 
nutrition  of  dogs,  yet  that  there  is  no  process  known  for  extracting  from  bones  an  aliment  which,  either 
alone,  or  mixed  with  other  substances,  can  be  substituted  for  meat.  He  also  infers  that— as  gelatine, 
albumen,  or  fibrine,  separately  or  artificially  combined,  are  incapable  of  permanently  nourishing  ;  while 
flesh,  which  consists  of  gelatine,  albumen,  fibrine,  fat,  salts,  &c.  combined  according  to  laws  of  organic 
nature,  suffices,  even  in  small  quantity,  for  complete  and  prolonged  nutrition — it  is  the  u  organic  condi- 
tion" which  forms  such  an  important  element  in  this  process. 

t  Ann.  de  Chim.  et  de  Physique,  p.  190.     1834. 

t  Journ.  de  Chim.  Med.  t.  1«,  He  Serie,  p.  344.     1835. 

§  PhU.  Trans,  for  1822,  p.  388-9. 


30  ELEMENTS  OF  FOODS. 

plains  the  circumstance  related  by  Dumas,*  of  the  evolution  of  phosphu retted  hydrogen 
in  the  purification  of  spirit  which  had  been  used  for  preserving  fish.  I  have  frequently 
recognised  a  powerful  phosphoric  odor  in  the  breath  of  patients.  I  have  noticed  that 
it  occurs  after  certain  kinds  of  food,  as  lobster  and  crab.  I  have  also  met  with  it  after 
the  use  of  some  Indian  condiments. 

Phosphorus  is  a  constituent  of  most  vegetable  substances,  being  found  in  the  ashes  of 
plants,  principally  in  the  form  of  an  earthy  phosphate,  (lime  or  magnesia.)  "The  soil 
in  which  plants  grow  furnishes  them  with  phosphoric  acid,  and  they  in  turn  yield  it  to 
animals,  to  be  used  in  the  formation  of  their  bones,  and  of  those  constituents  of  the 
brain  which  contain'phosphoru^.  Much  more  phosphorus  is  thus  afforded  to  the  body 
than  it  requires,  when  flesh,  bread,  fruit,  and  husks  of  grain,  are  used  for  food,  and  this 
excess  is  eliminated  in  the  urine  and  the  solid  excrements.  We  may  form  an  idea  of  the 
quantity  of  phosphate  of  magnesia  contained  in  grain,  when  we  consider  that  the  con- 
cretions in  the  caecum  of  horses  consist  of  phosphate  of  magnesia  and  ammonia,  which 
must  have  been  obtained  from  the  hay  and  oats  consumed  as  food."f  The  concretions 
(hippolilki)  here  referred  to  sometimes  attain  the  size  of  a  child's  head.  Several  of  this 
magnitude  are  contained  in  the  Anatomical  Museum  of  the  London  Hospital.  I  have 
one  weighing  between  five  and  six  pounds.  Ammoniacal  phosphate  of  magnesia  "  is  an 
invariable  constituent  of  the  seeds  of  all  the  grasses.  It  is  contained  in  the  outer  horny 
husk,  and  i.s  introduced  into  bread  along  with  the  flour,  and  also  into  beer.  The  bran  of 
flour  contains  the  greatest  quantity  of  it."  "  When  ammonia  is  mixed  with  bt 
same  salt  separates  as  a  white  precipitate."f 

"The  small  quantity  of  phosphates  which  the  seeds  of  the  lentils,  beans,  and  peas 
contain,  must  be  the  cause  of  their  small  value  as  articles  of  nourishment,  since  they 
surpass  all  other  vegetable  food  in  the  quantity  of  nitrogen  vhich  enters  into  their  com- 
position. But  as  the  component  parts  of  the  bones  (phosphate  of  lime  and  magnesia) 
are  absent,  they  satisfy  the  appetite  without  increasing  the  strength."} 

Unrefined  sugar  contains  an  earthy  phosphate ;  for  the  crust  which  is  deposited  in 
the  boilers  used  in  the  preparation  of  raw  sugar,  contains,  according  to  Avequin,||  no 
less  tli an  9243  per  cent,  of  subphosphate  of  lime.  "Phosphate  of  magnesia  and  am- 
monia  forms  the  principal  inorganic  constituent  of  the  potatoe."1T 

The  following  table  shows  the  quantity  of  phosphorus  contained  in  some  alimentary 
substances  : — 

QUANTITY  OF  PHOSPHORUS  IN  CERTAIN  FOODS. 

Qiinntity  of 
1000  Parts,  ".rus.  Authority.** 

Fibrine  (dried)         .        .  .)    4.3^3.3          '     Mulder.tt 

Albumen  of  egt?s  (dried) .         .         .  { 

Albumen  of  MTiim  of  blood  (dried)  Mulder. 
Vegetable  fibrine      .                 .        .  )  as  animal  fibrine ) 
albumen           .         .        .  \      and  albumen 


*  liaile  de  Chimie  appliquee  aux  Arts,  t.  i.  p.  266. 

t  Liebisr,  Chemistry  in  its  Abdication  to  Agriculture  and  Physiology,  p   143. 

t  Op.  supra  cit.  p.  02.  §  Ibid.  p.  147. 

||  Journal  ik  Pharmacie,  t.  ixvii.  p.  1">.  1T  I.ipVe  op.  supra  cit.  p.  205. 

**  Several  of  the  authorities  quoted  in  this  table  merely  state  the  quantity  of  phosphates  present ;  1 
have,  therefore,  calculated  the  quantity  of  phosphorus  present  on  the  assumption  that  100  parts  of  the 
earthy  phosphates  are  equal  to  22  parts  of  phosphorus. 

ft  Pharmaceutischcs  Central  Rhitt  fur  1S3-*,  p.  835. 


PHOSPHORUS. 


1000  Parts. 

Cerebric  acid  (in  brain)    . 
Oleophosphoric  acid  (in  brain 
Caseine     . 
Bone,  Ilium  of  Ox 

Fibia  of  Sheep 

.Milk 

Blood  (average) 

Potatoes  (dried) 

Wheat 


Rye 

Barley 

Oats 

Rice 

Garlic 


Quantity  of 
Phosphorus. 


9 

12  to  19 

9-944 
11-4334 
0-56 
0-143 
.       2-5 

(  from  0-792  ") 

>    to    1-93 

1-32  to  9-196  J- 
.       0-22  to  1-32 
.       0-352  to  1-32J 
.       0-286  to  0-88 
0-242 


Authority. 

Fremy.* 

Ditto. 

Berzelius.t 

Thomson.} 

Ditto. 

Berzelius. 

Denis.^ 

Einhoft.H 


Hermbstaedt.H 


6.  SULPHUR. — Sulphur  is  a  constituent  of  both  animals  and  vegetables.  Fibrine  and 
albumen,  and  all  tissues  composed  of  these  substances,  contain  it.  A  solution  of  flesh 
in  liquor  potassae  contains  sulphuret  of  potassium  ;  and  if  hydrochloric  acid  be  added  to 
it,  sulphuretted  hydrogen  is  evolved,  and  is  detected  by  its  staining  paper  moistened  with 
a  solution  of  sugar  of  lead.  The  discoloration  which  a  silver  spoon  suffers  by  being 
used  in  eating  eggs,  depends  on  the  formation  of  sulphuret  of  silver.  It  is  probable, 
therefore,  that  the  sulphur  of  both  fibrine  and  albumen  is  uncombined  with  oxygen.  If 
some  white  of  egg,  boiled  hard,  be  decomposed  by  heat,  it  evolves  hydrosulphuret  of 
ammonia,  which  discolors  paper  moistened  with  sugar  of  lead.  Caseine  also  contains 
sulphur,  as  do  likewise  hair  and  bones.  The  efficacy  of  a  mixture  of  finely  powdered 
litharge  (oxide  of  lead)  and  lime  (hair  dye)  in  staining  the  hajr,  depends  on  the  forma- 
tion of  the  black  sulphuret  of  lead.  The  lime  serves  to  form,  in  the  first  place,  a  sulphu- 
ret of  calcium  with  the  sulphur  of  the  hair.  The  lead  afterwards  unites  with  the  sulphur. 
Animal  charcoal  (bone-black)  evolves  sulphuretted  hydrogen,  when  treated  with  hydro- 
chloric acid,  showing  that  sulphur  was  a  constituent  of  bones. 

The  existence  of  sulphur  in  so  many  animal  substances,  serves  to  explain  the  evolu- 
tion of  sulphuretted  hydrogen  and  hydrosulphuret  of  ammonia,  by  putrifying  animal 
substances ;  excrement,  for  example.  Indeed,  so  much  sulphur  is  obtained  in  this  way, 
that  some  geologists  have  considered  it  to  be  a  source  of,  at  least  part  of,  the  native  sul- 
phur of  the  mineral  kingdom.**  That  sulphuretted  hydrogen  is  evolved  in  privies  is 
proved  by  its  darkening  the  white  paint,  and  by  its  blackening  silver  articles  (watches, 
coin,  spoons,  &c.)  which  have  accidentally  fallen  into  the  night  soil.  Game,  when  very 
high,  will  sometimes  discolor  the  silver  fork  used  in  eating  it. 

Sulphur  is  thrown  out  of  the  system  in  various  excretions.  Thus,  the  urine  contains 
sulphates,  in  part  formed  by  the  action  of  the  oxygen  of  the  arterial  blood  on  the  sulphur 

*  Journal  de  Pharmacie,  t.  xxvii.  p.  453.    1841. 

t  Traite  de  Chimie,.t.  vil.  p.  606. 

|  Cheaditry  of  Animal  Bodies,  p.  241,242.     1843. 

%  Essai  sur  V  Application  de  la  Chimie  a  I 'Etude  physiologique  du  Sang  de  I'Homme,  p.  211—244 

I   Thomson's  Chemistry  of  Organic  Bodies— Vegetables,  p.  840. 

1"  Anleitung  zur  chemischen  Zcrgliederung  der  Vegetabilien  iiberhaupt  und  dcr  Getreidtarten  msbe$onder& 
I^eipzig,  1831.  The  nature  of  the  manure  modifies  the  quantity  of  earthy  phosphates  found  in  corn. 

**  Broc<hi,  quoted  by  Leonhard  ii\  his  Handbuch  der  Oryktognosie,  p.  599,  Heidelberg,  1826.  When 
I'ne  gate  St.  Antoine  at  Paris  was  pilled  down  in  1778,  there  were  found  in  the  ditches  of  that  place, 
where  many  years  (300?)  previously  excrement  had  been  deposited,  grains  and  crystals  of  sulphur  depos- 
ited on  lime.  (Fougeroux  de  Bondarey,  Mem  de  '  Academie  Royafe  des  Sciences,  Annee  1783,  p.  105.) 
It  is  stated  in  the  Athenaum,  (Dec.  1,  1833,  p  860,)  that  Maravigno  "disputes  the  assertions  of  Prof. 
Gemellaro,  who  pretends  that  sulphur  owes  its  origin  to  the  decomposition  of  mollusca." 


3-2  ELEMENTS  OF  FOODS. 


of  the  metamorphosed  tissues.  In  the  saliva  there  is  found  an  alkaline  sulphocyanide  ; 
and  in  consequence  of  the  presence  of  this  salt,  the  saliva  possesses  the  property  of  red- 
dening the  sesquisalts  of  iron.  The  sulphuretted  hydrogen  found  in  the  alimen- 
tary canal  is  perhaps  often  produced  by  the  action  of  decomposing  organic  matters  on 
sulphates.* 

Metallic  matter  kept  in  the  mouth  becomes  discolored  by  the  action  of  sulphur  on  it. 
Thus  the  gold  plates  used  to  support  artificial  teeth,  and  the  amalgam  of  silver,  some- 
times employed  to  fill  the  hollows  of  decayed  teeth,  become  incrusted  with  a  film  of 
metallic  sulphuret.  Moreover,  the  leaden  blue  line,  which  borders  the  edges  of  the  gums 
attached  to  the  necks  of  the  teeth,  in  persons  whose  constitutions  are  under  the  inilu- 
ence  of  lead,f  is  probably  sulphuret  of  lead.  The  system  derives  its  sulphur  from  ani- 
mal, vegetable,  and  mineral  substances,  used  as  food.  Thus  flesh,  eggs,  and  milk,  con- 
tain it.  Vegetable  fibrine,  (as  of  corn,)  vegetable  albumen,  (as  of  almonds,  nuts,  cauli- 
flowers, asparagus,  and  turnips,)  and  vegetable  caseine,  (as  of  peas  and  beans,)  contain 
it.  Lastly,  sulphur,  in  the  form  of  sulphate  of  lime,  is  a  constituent  of  common  and 
spring  water. 

Celery,  rice,  hops,  ginger,  and  many  other  vegetable  substances,  contain  sulphur. 
Though  most  culinary  vegetables  contain  sulphur,  yet  in  the  Crucifera  it  is  especially 
abundant.  Asafoetida,  which  contains  sulphur,  is  sometimes  used  as  a  condiment ;  and 
is  considered  by  some  oriental  nations  as  "food  for  the  gods  "\ 

An  infusion  of  white  mustard  strikes  a  blood-red  color  w^ith  the  persalts  of  iron,  owing 
to  the  presence  of  sulphosinapisine.     By  this  character  white  mustard  is  readily  distin- 
guished from  black  mustard.     Both  kinds  of  muatard-flour  charred  in  a  tu! 
sulphuretted  vapor,  which  blackens  paper  moistened  with  a  solution  of  acetate  (  : 
In  the  same  way  sulphur  may  be  detected  in  cabbage,  potatoes,  and  many  otln 
foods.    If  peas  or  almonds  be  boiled  in  a  solution  of  caustic  potash,  and  then  hyuroi -lilorir 
acid  be  added,  the  evolved  vapor  blackens  paper  moistened  with  a  solution  of  It-ad,  thus 
showing  that  these  seeds  contained  sulphur. 

The  quantity  of  sulphur  contained  in  various  alimentary  substances  is  as  follows: — 


*  An  eminent  chemical  philosopher  tells  me  that  he  is  always  much  troubled  with  the  evolution  of 
this  gas  afier  the  use  of  sulphate  of  magnesia,  (Epsom  salts.)  That  organic  matter,  in  a  state  of  decom- 
position, possesses  the  power  of  decomposing  sulphates,  is  now  fully  established.  Many  years  since, 
my  friend,  Mr.  Pepys,  (Trans,  of  the  Geological  Society,  vol.  i.  3'J'.»,)  showed  that  by  the  mutual  action  of 
animal  matter,  and  a  solution  of  sulphate  of  iron,  the  latter  is  de-oxidated,  sulphur,  sulphuret  of  iron,  and 
black  oxide  of  iron,  being  formed.  My  friend,  Professor  Daniell,  (Lond.  Edinb.  and  Dub.  Pin! 
July,  IH-MO  lias  also  shown  that  alkaline  sulphate*  are  decomposed  by  decomposu  matters. 

From  his  statements  it  appears  that  the  waters  upon  the  western  coast  of  Africa,  to  an  extent  of  -10,1)00 
square  miles,  are  impregnated  with  sulphuretted  hydrogen,  to  an  amount,  in  some  places,  exceeding  that 
of  some  of  the  most  celebrated  sulphur  springs  in  the  world;  and  he  suggests  that  the  existence  of  this 
deleterious  gas  in  the  atmosphere,  which  must  necessarily  accompany  its  solution  in  the  waters,  may  be 
connected  with  the.  awful  miasma  which  has  hitherto  proved  faUil  to  the  explorers  and  settlers  «.f  the 
deadly  shores  of  Africa,  as  well  as  of  other  places.  The  origin  of  the  sulphuretted  hydrogen  of  s-ea  and 
some  other  waters,  has  been  ascribed  by  Dr.  Marcet,  (Phil.  Trans.  1819,  p.  135,)  Mr.  Malcultmon,  (Trans, 
of  the  Gfdt^icul  NonWy,  2d  Ser.,  vol.  v.,  p.  561,  Lond.  1840,)  Dr.  A.  Fontan,  (Ann.  de  Chim.  et  de  Physique, 
July,  1840,)  and  Professor  Daniell,  to  the  decomposition  of  sulphates  contained  in  the  water,  by  putrify- 
ing  vegetable  matter. 

t  See  Dr.  Burton's  paper  on  this  subject,  in  the  Medico-Chirurgical  Transactions,  2d  Series,  vol.  v.  p. 
63.  1810. 

\  See  my  Elements  of  Maleria  Medico,  vol.  ii.  p.  1456,  et  seq.  2d  edit.     Also  Burnes's  Travels,  vol.  i 
p.  143 ;  and  vol.  ii.  p.  243. 


SULPHUR—IRON.  33 


TABLE  OF  THE  QUANTITY  OF  SULPHUR  IN  SOME  ALIMENTARY  SUBSTANCES.* 
1000  Farts  of  quantity  of  Sulphur.  Authority. 

Albumen  of  eggs  (mimen)  !    !    !    !    \    \\  From  3-6  to  3-8                 Mulder. 

Albumen  of  blood  (seralbumeri) 68                  Ditto. 

Caseine 36                  Ditto 

Vegetable  fibrine )  as  animal  fibrine,       ) 

albumen >  albumen,  and                Licbig 

caseine )  caseine.              ) 

Volatile  oil  of  black  mustard 204-8 

Sulphosinapisine  (in  white  mustard)    .    .    .  96-57 

Asafoetida     .    .    .    , 20-C                  Ure.t 

These  are  some  only  of  the  substances  from  which  the  sulphur  of  our  system  is  de- 
rived. Others  have  been  already  referred  to. 

7.  IRON. — Iron  is  a  constituent  of  most,  if  not  all,  organized  beings  ;  and  is  found  in 
the  ashes  of  both  animals  and  vegetables.  The  quantity  which  they  contain  is,  however, 
small,  and  has  not  been  accurately  ascertained.  Moreover,  we  are  unacquainted  with  the 
precise  state  in  which  it  exists  in  living  beings. 

This  metal  is  an  essential  constituent  of  the  blood  corpuscles,  though,  according  to  the 
recent  researches  of  Scherer,  it  is  neither  essential  to  hffimatosin,  nor  necessary  to  the 
color  of  the  blood.  But  the  well-known  beneficial  influence  of  chalybeates  in  the  disease 
called  Anaemia,  in  which  the  blood  is  found  to  contain  a  smaller  quantity  of  iron  than  in 
a  state  of  health,  favors  the  notion  that  the  proper  color  of  this  fluid  is  in  some  way  con- 
nected with  the  amount  of  iron  contained  in  it;  for  one  of  the  most  characteristic  symp- 
toms of  this  malady  is  an  absence  of  the  natural  vermilion  tint  of  the  complexion. 

According  to  Denis,J  1000  parts  of  the  blood  corpuscles  yield  2  parts  of  per-  or  ses- 
quioxide  of  iron.  But  as  the  relative  proportions  of  serum  and  blood  corpuscles  are 
subject  to  considerable  variation,  it  follows  that  the  quantity  of  iron  contained  in  a  given 
weight  of  blood  cannot  be  constant.  Moreover,  it  is  probable  that  the  proportion  of  this 
metal  in  the  blood  corpuscles  may  not  be  uniform. 

The  quantity  of  sesquioxide  of  iron  obtained  from  1000  parts  of  blood,  varies,  accord- 
ing to  the  authority^  just  quoted,  from  0128  to  0-346  parts.  In  pale,  relaxed  individuals, 
of  a  lymphatic  temperament,  in  those  who  have  been  badly  fed,  or  have  been  subjected 
to  frequent  bleedings,  or  who  are  laboring  under  ansemia,  the  blood  yields  the  smaller 
proportion  of  sesquioxide  above  referred  to.  But  the  blood  of  strong  and  vigorous  sub- 
jects, of  persons  of  a  sanguine  temperament,  and  of  those  who.  are  well  fed,  furnishes  a 
much  greater  proportion  of  iron.  LiebigH  assumes  the  existence  of  a  much  larger  quan- 
tity of  sesquioxide  of  iron  in  the  blood  than  is  stated  by  Denis  in  the  work  already  quoted. TT 

*  According  to  Mulder,  (Pharmaceutisches  Central- Blall  fur  1838,  p.  835,)  the  formula  for  fibrine  and 
ovalbumen  is  C8W  Jj&o  N»°  Q24C  pa  32 ;  while  that  for  seralbumen  is  C™  H®o  N«w  O^o  ps  g^  But 
Liebig  (Animal  Chemistry,  p.  124)  justly  observes,  that  "Every  attempt  to  give  the  true  absolute  amount 
of  the  atoms  in  fibrine  and  albumen  in -a  rational  formula,  in  which  the  sulphur  and  phosphorous  are 
taken,  not  in  fractions,  but  in  entire  equivalents,  must  be  fruitless,  because  we  are  absolutely  unable  to 
determine  with  perfect  accuracy  the  exceedingly  minute  quantities  of  sulphur  and  phosphorus  in  such 
compounds;  and  because  a  variation  in  the  sulphur  or  phosphorus,  smaller  in  extent  than  the  usual 
limits  of  errors  of  observation,  will  affect  the  number  of  atoms  of  carbon,  hydrogen,  or  oxygen,  to  the 
extent  of  10  atoms  or  more." 

t  Pharmaceutical  Journal,  vol.  i.  p.  461. 

t  Essai  sur  T  Application  de  la  Chimie  a  V Elude  Physiologique  du  Sang  de  VHomme,  p.  205.   Paris,  1838. 

§  Op.  supra  cit.  pp.  211 — 244.  II  Animal  Chemistry,  p.  273. 

1T  In  a  work  published  by  Denis  in  1830,  and  entitled  Recherches  Experimentales  sur  le  Sang  Humain, 
the  mean  quantity  of  iron  in  1000  parts  of  blood  is  said  to  be  0-9,  but  in  his  more  recent  work,  from  which 
the  statement  in  the  text  has  been  taken,  he  states  (p.  193)  he  has  substituted  Lecanu's  method  of  deter- 
mining the  proportion  of  iron,  as  being  infinitely  more  exact  than  his  own. 

3 


34  ELEMENTS  OF  FOODS. 

"  According  to  the  researches  of  Denis,  Richardson,  an*.'  Nasse,  (Handworterbuch  der 
Physiologic,  vol.  i.  p.  138,)"  says  Liebig,  "10,000  parts  of  blood  contain  8  parts  of  peroxide 
of  iron."  Now  8  parts  of  peroxide  are  equal  to  5r8oths  parts  of  the  pure  metal. 

Liebig  regards  the  compound  of  iron  in  the  blood  as  an  oxidized  one.  In  the  arterial 
blood  it  is  saturated  with  oxygen,  (hydrated  sesquioxide ;)  but  during  its  passage  through 
the  capillaries  it  loses  part  of  its  oxygen,*  and  becomes  protoxide  of  iron,  which  combines 
with  carbonic  acid,  one  of  the  products  of  the  oxidation  of  the  metamorphosed  tissues, 
and  forms  carbonate  of  the  protoxide  of  iron,  which  exists  in  venous  blood.  This,  in  the 
lungs,  absorbs  the  same  amount  of  oxygen  it  had  lost,  and  gives  out  its  acquired  carbonic 
acid.  But  the  fact,  that  for  every  volume  of  oxygen  absorbed  by  carbonate  of  the  pro- 
toxide of  iron  no  less  than  four  volumes  of  carbonic  acid  are  evolved,  appears  to  me  to 
present  some  difficulties  to  its  admission. 

QUANTITY  OF  OXYGEN  ABSORBED,  AND  CARBONIC  ACID  EVOLVED,  BY  CARBON- 
ATE  OF  THE  PROTOXIDE  OF  IRON. 


4  cq.  of  Carbonate  of  Protoxide  of  Iron,  .    .    .  232 
1  vol.  or  2  eq.  of  Oxygen  absorbed      ....     16 

248 


4  vols.  or  eq.  Carbonic  Acid  evolved  ....    83 
4  eq.  Sesquioxide  of  Iron  formed 160 


Now  it  has  already  been  stated  (pp.  7  and  13)  that  in  the  process  of  respiration,  the 
quantity,  by  volume,  of  carbonic  acid  expired,  is  not  equal  to  that  of  the  oxygen  which  has 
disappeared. 

If  we  assume  that  the  venous  blood  contains  protoxide  of  iron,  a  portion  only  of  which 
is  in  combination  with  carbonic  acid,  this  difficulty  may  be  obviated. 

QUANTITY  OF  OXYGEN  ABSORBED,  AND  CARBONIC  ACID  EVOLVED.  BY  PROTOX- 
IDE AND  CARBONATE  OF  THE  PROTOXIDE  OF  IRON 


1  equivalent  Carbonate  of  Protoxide  of  Iron    .    53 

3  equivalents  of  Protoxide  of  Iron 108 

1  vol  or  2  equivalents  of  Oxygen  absorbed     .     16 


1  equivalent  or  vol.  of  Carbonic  Acid  evolved    22 
4  equivalents  of  Sesquioxide  of  Iron   ....  160 


182 
188 

"The  frightful  effects  of  sulphuretted  hydrogen  and  of  prussic  acid,  which,  when  in- 
spired, put  a  stop  to  all  the  phenomena  of  motion  in  a  few  seconds,  are  explained  in  a 
natural  manner  by  the  well-known  action  of  these  compounds  on  those  of  iron,  when 
alkalies  are  present ;  and  free  alkali  is  never  absent  in  the  blood,"  (Liebig.)f 

Iron  is  a  constituent  of  the  hair.  Black  hair  contains  most  of  this  metal ;  white  hair 
the  least.| 

Iron  has  been  found  by  Braconnot  in  the  gastric  juice  of  dogs.}  It  has  likewise  been 
detected  in  the  chyle.||  These  facts,  then,  explain  how  this  metal  gets  into  the  blood. 

*  The  facility  with  which,  under  certain  circumstances,  the  sesquioxide  of  iron  loses  part  of  its  oxygen, 
has  been  recently  applied  by  Sir  J.  F.  Herschel  in  the  production  of  photographic  pictures,  termed 
Ferrotypes. 

t  The  physiological  effects  of  a  want  of  the  usual  proportion  of  iron  in  the  blood  globules,  yet  remain 
to  be  investigated.  If  Liebig's  hypothesis  be  correct,  then  such  deficiency  must  Qause  the  globules  to 
lose  their  property  of  absorbing  oxygen,  and  of  afterwards  giving  up  this  oxygen  and  carrying  off  the 
resulting  carbonic  acid,  which  would  doubtless  lead  to  important  changes  in  the  temperature  and  other 
vital  phenomena  of  the  body.  The  vital  motions  would  go  on.  but  the  change  of  matter  would  be  ar- 
rested ;  no  lifeless  compounds  could  consequently  be  separated,  such  as  bile  or  urine,  and  the  animal 
temperature  would  necessarily  sink.  The  phenomena  cctmec  ed  \vith  aggravated  cases  of  anaemia,  in 
leuco-phlegmatic  subjects,  lend  much  plausibility  to  such  a  doctrine.  See  further  lemarks  on  this  sub- 
ject, in  Appendix,  F. — L. 

I  Vauquelin,  Ann.  de  Cliim.  Iviii.  p.  41.  $  Ann.  <le  Chim.  el  de  Physiq.  lix.  rt.  219. 

II  Denis,  Recherches  Expcrimcntales,  p.  323.     1830. 


CHLORINE. 


Most  articles  of  food  contain  i.-on.  It  is  a  constituent  of  the  blood  found  in  meat.  Veal 
must  contain  less  of  it  than  beef,  since  calves  are  usually  bled  copiously  previous  to  death, 
by  which  an  anaemic  state  is  induced.  In  the  yellow  fat  of  the  yolk  of  egg  this  metal  may 
be  detected,  (Liebig.)  Milk  likewise  contains  iron,  according  to  Berzelius,  in  the  state 
of  phosphate.  Traces  of  iron  have  been  detected  in  most  vegetable  foods.  Mustard, 
cabbage,  potatoes,  peas,  and  cucumbers,  may  be  mentioned  as  examples. 

8.  CHLORINE. — This  elementary  substance  is  a  constituent  of  the  blood,  the  gastric 
juice,  and  several  of  the  excretions,  as  the  urine,  saliva,  tears,  and  faeces.  In  the  blood 
and  the  excretions  it  exists  in  combination  with  sodium,  while  in  the  gastric  juice  it  is 
found  combined  with  hydrogen,  and  thereby  constituting  hydrochloric  acid. 

As  the  chlorine  of  the  blood  is  constantly  being  consumed  in  the  formation  of  the  gas- 
tric juice  and  secretions,  it  requires  to  be  frequently  renewed.  Hence  it  is  an  indispensa- 
ble constituent  of  our  food  ;  and  is  taken  into  the  system  in  the  form  of  chloride  of  sodium 
or  common  salt,  which  contains  60  per  cent,  of  chlorine.  To  the  embryo  chick  nature 
has  supplied  it  in  both  the  white  and  the  yolk  of  egg,  while  the  young  mammal  finds  it 
in,  its  mother's  mflk.  The  appetite  which  all  animals  evince  for  common  salt  shows  that 
it  is  an  agent  indispensable  for  their  health.  Its  uses  will  be  hereafter  pointed  out.* 

*  One  of  the  most  important,  uses  of  chloride  of  sodium  (common  salt)  is  the  formation  of  hydrochloric 
acid,  an  essential  ingredient  of  the  gastric  juice.  By  what  particular  agency,  whether  by  electricity  or 
affinity,  this  decomposition  is  effected,  we  are  unable  to  determine  precisely,  but  that  the  hydrochloric 
acid  of  this  juice  derives  its  chlorine  from  the  chloride  of  sodium,  can  scarcely  be  doubted.  Its  hydrogen 
is  probably  derived  from  water,  the  oxygen  tif  which  at  tne  same  time  unites  with  the  sodium  to  form 
soda. 

The  gastric  juice  consists  essentially  of  water,  gastnc  mucus,  and  hydrochloric  acid.  As  mucus  is  a 
fluid  secretion  3f  all  the  mucous  membranes,  while  the  mucus  of  the  gastric  membrane  alone  yields, 
with  water  and  hydrochloric  acid,  a  digestive  liquor,  it  is  probable  that  the  mucus  of  the  stomach  con- 
tains some  peculiar  organic  principle,  not  hitherto  isolated,  on  which  its  peculiar  properties  depend.  To 
this  principle,  the  term  pepsin  (from  jrtTrro,  /  digest)  has  been  applied.  An  artificial  digestive  liquor  is 
readily  prepared  by  macerating  the  lining  membrane  of  the  fourth  stomach  of  the  calf  in  water,  to  which 
a  few  drops  of  hydrochloric  acid  have  been  added.  If  small  cubes  of  white  of  egg,  boiled  hard,  be 
macerated  in  this  liquor,  their  more  superficial  parts  become  translucent,  and  their  edges  and  angles 
rounded.  Very  gradually  they  are  dissolved,  presenting  during  the  process  the  appearance  of  a  cube 
of  soap,  dissolving  in  water,  and  having  a  gelatiniform  character.  The  yolk  of  egg  yields  a  turbid  liquor, 
owing  to  the  presence  of  fat  globules.  A  piece  of  cooked  beefsteak  becomes  pulpy  at  the  surface,  and 
gradually  dissolves. 

These  changes  are  produced  neither  by  an  infusion  of  the  stomach,  nor  by  diluted  hydrochloric  acid 
employed  separately ;  but  by  the  two  conjointly  they  are  readily  effected. 

Now,  Liebig  asserts,  "  that  the  substance  which  is  present  in  the  gastric  juice  in  a  state  of  change  is  a 
product  of  the  transformation  of  the  stomach  itself;"  and  he  goes  on  to  state,  that  "the  fresh  lining  mem- 
brane of  the  stomach  of  a  calf,  digested  with  weak  muriatic  acid,  gives  to  this  fluid  no  power  of  dissolving 
boiled  flesh  or  coagulated  white  of  egg;  but  if  previously  allowed  to  dry,  or  if  left  for  a  time  in  water, 
it  then  yields  to  water,  acidulated  with  muriatic  acid,  a  substance  in  minute  quantity,  the  decomposition 
of  which  is  already  commenced,  and  is  completed  in  the  solution." 

But  several  circumstances  appear  to  me  to  be  ^pposed  to  this  view  The  fact  ascertained  by  Schvvann, 
that  the  solvent  principle  of  the  ligestive  fluk  can  be  precipitated  from  its  neutra.  solution  by  acetate 
of  lead,  and  be  obtained  again  in  an  active  state  from  the  precipitate  by  means  of  sulphuretted  hydro- 
gen, is  apparently  inconsisten.  with  Liebig's  idea,  that  this  principle  is  matter  in  a  state  of  decomposition 
or  transformation.  Moreover,  if  the  essential  pa.-,  o;  the  gastric  juice— that  by  which  digestion  is  effected 
--be  a  mere  transformation  of  the  stomach,  how  is  it  that  other  parts  of  analogous  structure  and  compo- 
sition do  not  suffer  the  same  transformation?  I  have  tried  to  obtain  a  digestive  liquor  from  the  second 
stomach  of  the  calf,  and  from  the  bladder,  but  in  vain.  How  is  it  that  this  fancied  transformation  goes 
on,  during  life,  only  when  solicited  to  do  so  by  the  presence  of  aliment  or  by  mechanical  irritation  ?  Dr. 
Beaumont  ascertained  that  pure  gastric  juice  will  keep  for  many  months  without  becoming  fetid  :  a  fac 


36  ELEMENTS  OF  FOODS. 


— Sodium  is  a  constituent  of  the  blood,  the  animal  tissues,  and  the  secretions. 
Owing  to  its  presence,  the  ashes  of  animal  substances  (feathers,  bristles,  hairs,  flesh,  &c.) 
possess  the  property  of  communicating  a  yellow  tinge  to  flame. 

This  metal  is  taken  intc  the  system,  principally  in  the  form  of  chloride,  which  contains 
40  per  cent,  of  the  metal.  This  salt  is  used  at  our  table  as  a  condiment,  and  is  a  constit- 
uent of  most  animal  foods.  Thus  it  is  contained  in  both  the  white  and  the  yolk  of  egg,  in 
milk,  and  in  flesh.  It  is  not  an  ordinary  constituent  of  plants,  unless  they  grow  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  sea  or  other  salt  water.  Minute  quantities" of  it  are  found  in  most  of 
our  common  waters. 

Sodium  is  expelled  from  the  system  both  in  the  form  of  chloride  and  of  oxysalt  In  the 
urine  of  flesh-eating  animals  it  exists  in  the  form  of  sulphate  and  phosphate  of  soda.* 

11.  CALCIUM. — This  metal  is  a  component  part  of  all  animals.  In  the  higher  classes  it 
exists  principally  in  the  form  of  subphosphate  of  lime.  Thus,  the  bones  of  the  vertebrata 
contain  this  salt  mixed  with  a  small  portion  of  carbonate  of  lime.  But  the  shells  and  crusts 
of  invertebrated  animals,  as  lobsters  oysters,  &c.,  consist  of  carbonate  principally,  but 
mixed  with  a  little  subphosphate  of  lime.  Muscles,  nervous  matter,  the  liver,  the  thyroid 
gland,  and,  indeed,  all  the  animal  solids,  as  well  as  the  blood,  contain  calcium  in  the  form 
of  subphosphate  of  lime. 

Calcium  i.s  a  constituent  of  the  white,  the  yolk,  and  the  shell  of  eggs  ;  and  it  is  probable 
that  the  calcium  found  in  the  skeleton  of  the  chick,  when  it  quits  the  shell,  was  derived 
from  one  or  more  of  these  sources.f  It  is  likewise  df  constituent  of  mi«i,  and  from  this 
source  the  young  mammal  derives  the  requisite  subphosphate  of  lime  for  deposition  in  his 
bones. 

We  derive  the  calcium  of  our  system  from  the  animal,  vegetable,  and  mineral  sub- 
stances which  we  consume  as  food.  Thus  bones,  flesh,  viscera,  blood,  and  milk  of  animals, 
yield  us  this  metal.  To  these  sources  must  be  added  eggs,  as  above  mentioned.  Most 
vegetables  also  contain  it.  Thus  subphosphate  of  lime  is  found  in  cereal  grains,  onions, 
and  garlic  ;  the  oxalate  exists  in  the  stalks,  of  garden  rhubarb  used  for  making  tarts  and 
puddings  ;  the  tartrate  is  found  in  grapes ;  gum  and  unrefined  sugar  yield  ashes  contain- 
ing calcium.  Another  source  of  calcium  is  common  water,  (well  and  river  water,)  which 
usually  contains  both  bicarbonate  and  sulphate  of  lime. 

scarcely  explicable  on  the  hypothesis  that  its  activity  depends  on  a  principle  in  a  state  of  decomposition. 
I  find  thnt  while  acidulated  infusions  of  the  second  stomach  of  the  calf,  and  of  the  bladder,  soon  become 
putrid  and  fetid,  that  of  the  fourth  stomach  remains  remarkahly  free  from  unpleasant  smell  for  several 
works.  Lastly,  1  find,  contrary  to  Licbig's  statement,  that  a  digestive  liquor  can  be  prepared  from  the 
fresh  undried  fourth  stomach  of  a  calf. 

I  cannot  ngrce  with  Liebig,  that  digestion  is  a  process  analogous  to  fermentation ;  that,  in  fact,  it  ig 
nothing  more  than  the  transformation  of  food,  effected  by  the  contact  of  matter  in  a  state  of  decomposition. 
If  it  were,  a  small  quantity  of  gastric  juice  ought  to  be  capable  of  effecting  the  digestion  of  an  unlimited 
quantity  of  food.  Now,  the  experiments  of  Dr.  Beaumont  on  the  natural  gastric  juice,  and  of  Schwann 
on  the  artificial  digestive  liquor,  prove  that  this  is  not  the  case.  Both  found  that  only  a  certaii  amount 
of  food  could  be  digested  with  a  given  quantity  of  gastric  juice  :  and  Dr.  Beaumont  observes,  that  "  \\lion 
the  juice  becomes  saturated,  it  refuses  to  dissolve  more  ;  and  if  an  excess  of  food  have  been  taken,  the 
residue  remains  in  the  stomach,  or  passes  into  the  bowels  in  a  crude  slate."  Now,  this  fact  is  quite  in- 
consistent with  the  fermentation  theory. 

*  Appendix,  G. 

t  This,  however,  is  denied  by  Dr.  Prout,  (Phil.  TYan*.  1822,  p.  399.)     "I  think  I  can  venture  to  assert, 
•ays  he,  "after  the  most  patient  and  attentive  investigation,  that  it  [the  lime  of  the  skeleton  of  the  chick] 
does  not.  pre-exist  in  the  recent  egg  ;  certainly  not,  at  least  in  any  known  state.     The  only  possible  sources, 
therefore,  whence  it  can  be  derived,  are  from  the  shell,  or  transmutation  from  other  principles."     I  have 
before  (p.  3)  noticed  Dr.  Prout' s  opinions  as  to  the  origin  of  the  lime  of  the  chick  when  it  leaves  the  shell 


MAGNESIUM— POTASSIUM— FLUORINE.  37 

"  The  Chinese)"  says  Mr.  Medhurst,*  "  use  great  quantities  of  gypsum,  [sulphate  of 
lime,]  which  they  mix  \vith  pulse*  in  order  to  form  a  jelly-,  of  which  they  are  very  fond." 

In  some  conditions  of  system  a  morbid  appetite  for  calcareous  substances  exists. 
'« Physicians,"  says  Liebig,  "  are  well  acquainted  with  the  fact,  that  children  who  are  not 
well  supplied  with  a  sufficient  quantity  of  lime  in  their  food,  eat  that  which  they  collect 
from  the  walls  of  houses,  with  the  same  appetite  that  they  have  for  their  meals."  Such 
cases  are,  according  to  my  experience,  very  rare  ;  and  there  is  no  evidence  to  prove  Lie- 
big's  assertion,  that  in  these  cases  the  food  was  deficient  in  its  ordinary  proportion  of  lime. 

1*2.  MAGNESIUM.— Small  quantities  of  this  metal  are  found  in  the  blood,  teeth,  bones, 
nervous  matter,  thyroid  gland*  and  other  parts  of  the  body.  It  exists  in  combination  with 
oxygen  and  phosphoric  acid,  and  often  with  ammonia  also.  (See  Phosphorus.) 

It  is  a  constituent  of  both  vegetable  and  animal  foods.  Thus  it  is  found  in  cereal  grains 
potatoes,  flesh  of  animals,  milk,  eggs,  &c. 

13.  POTASSIUM.!     Minute  traces  of  potassium  exist  in  blood,  the  solids,  and  several  of 
the  secretions  of  animals. 

Liebigt  states,  that  "  without  an  abundant  supply  of  potash,  the  production  of  milk  be- 
comes impossible  ;"  but  I  know  not  on  what  authority  he  makes  this  statement,  for 
SchwartzJ  found  only  seven  parts  of  chloride  of  potassium  (equivalent  to  3'68  parts  of 
potassium)  in  10,000  parts  of  human  milk — a  quantity  apparently  too  minute  to  be  of  much 
importance. 

Potassium  is  a  constituent  of  both  animal  and  vegetable  food.  Most  plants  which  grow 
inland  contain  it;  thus,  it  is  found  in  grapes  and  potatoes.  Its  presence  may  be  readily 
detected  :  burn  a  grape  stalk  in  the  candle — the  minute  ash  obtained  at  the  point  of  the 
burnt  stalk  will,  if  introduced  into  the  outer  or  almost  colorless  cone  of  the  flame,  com- 
municate a  violet  tint ;  thus  demonstrating  the  presence  of  potassium  or  potash. 

Nitrate  of  potash  is  sometimes  used  in  the  preparation  of  salted  meats.  This,  therefore, 
is  another  source  of  potassium  in  the  system.  Moreover,  common  salt  contains  minute 
traces  of  this  metal. 

14.  FLUORINE. — Berzelius  detected  minute  quantities  of  fluoride  of  calcium  in  the  bones 
and  teeth  of  animals ;  but,  more  recently,  Dr.  G.  O.  Rees  failed  to  detect  it.     If  fluorine 
be  a  normal  constituent  of  the  body,  it  is  doubtless  introduced  into  the  system  in  the  small 
portions  of  the  bones  of  animals  occasionally  swallowed  with  their  flesh,  for  it  cannot  be 
derived  from  plants,  since  it  has  never  been  detected  in  these  bodies.     It  is  remarkable, 
however,  that  fluoride  of  calcium  is  abundant  in  fossilized  bones,  and  in  the  human  bones, 
found  at  Pompeii  and  Herculaneum,|l 

*  China,  its  Stale  and  Prospects,  p.  33.     London,  1838, 

t  Potassium  is  the  metallic  basis  of  the  alkali  potash — first  discovered  by  Sir  Humphrey  Davy. — L. 

t  Animal  Chemistry,  p.  164. 

$  Gmelin,  Handbuch  der  theorelischen  Chemie,  vol.  ii.  p.  1403. 

II  Fluorine  is  the  hase  of  the  acid  contained  in  fluor  spar :  with  hydrogen,  it  forms  the  hydrofluoric  acid. 
Though  the  existence  of  this  body  is  rendered  very  probable  by  analogical  reasoning,  and  recent  experi- 
ments have  gone  very  fur  in  establishing  its  distinctive  characters,  yet  it  cannot  be  prepared  in  an  isolated 
form,  or  exhibited  like  the  other  simple  bodies :  for  such  is  the  intensity  and  variety  of  its  affinities,  that 
no  sooner  is  it  liberated  from  combination  with  one  substance,  than  it  enters  into  union  with  some  other, 
attaching  the  materials  of  which  the  apparatus  used  may  be  constructed.  It  combines  with  sulphur, 
phosphorus,  and  hydrogen,  but  not  with  oxygen.  (Kane's  Chemistry,  p.  320.)—  L. 


l!    38  ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLES. 


CHAP.  ll.—Of  Alimentary  Principles. 

Two  cr  more  of  the  undecompounded  bodies,  described  in  the  last  chapter,  form,  by 
their  union  with  each  other,  certain  compound  substances,  terr/>ed  Alimentary  Principles, 
or  Simple  Aliments;  and,  by  the  combination  or  mixture  of  the  latter,  our  ordinary  foods, 
called  Compound  Aliments,  are  formed. 

Some  alimentary  principles  "contain  two  elements  only,  as  Water.  Others  contain 
three,  as  Sugar  and  Fat.  Proteine  is  formed  of  four  elements,  while  Fibrine  and  Albu- 
men contain  six. 

Some  alimentary  principles,  as  Water  and  common  Salt,  are  derived  from  the  Mineral 
Kingdom  :  others  are  obtained  from  the  Organized  Kingdom.  « 

Dr.  Prout*  arranges  alimentary  principles  in  four  great  classes  or  groups,  viz.,  the  aque- 
ous, the  saccharine,  the  oleaginous,  and  the  albuminous.  The  types  of  these  groups  are 
found  in  milk,  the  only  article  of  food  actually  furnished  and  intended  by  nature  as  food 
for  animals.  Thus  this  secretion  contains  water,  sugar,  butter,  and  caseum,  (an  albumi- 
nous substance.) 

This  arrangement  is  a  very  excellent  one ;  but  several  reasons  induce  me  to  adopt 
another.  Milk  holds  in  solution  saline  matter,  which  is  also  an  essential  article  of  food 
to  the  adult  animal,  and  hence  I  shall  admit  another  class  under  the  name  of  the  saline 
aliments. 

Moreover,  both  chemical  and  physiological  considerations  induce  me  io  separate  gela- 
tine from  albuminous  principles,  and,  therefore,  it  will  be  necessary  to  have  a  separate 
group  for  gelatinous  principles.  Furthermore,  it  appears  to  me  to  be  desirable  to  ha  ve 
distinct  classes  for  gum,  sugar,  starch,  vegetable  jelly,  alcohol,  and  vegetable  acids. 
Hence  I  admit  the  following  classes  of  alimentary  principles: — 

CLASSES  OF  ALIMENTARY   PRINCIPLES. 


1.  The  Aqueous. 

2.  The  Munh'.cincms  or  Gummy. 

3.  The  Sucrharine. 

4.  The  Amylaceous. 

5.  The  Ligneous. 

6.  The  Pectinaceous.t 


7.  The  Acidulous. 

8.  The  Alcoholic. 

(J.  Tlie  Oily  or  Fatty. 
I'l.  The  ProteinaceouH.t 

11.  The  Gelatinous. 

12.  The  Saline. 


1.  THE  AQUEOUS  ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLE. 

Wat-r  is  essential  to  the  performance  of  all  vital  processes  in  the  higher  classes  of  liv- 
ing beings ;  Mosses,  and  some  of  the  infusorial  animals,  may,  it  is  said,  be  deprived  of 
moisture  without  having  their  vitality  destroyed.}  But  with  these  exceptions  moisture 
seems  essential  to  vital  manifestations.  This  connection  between  vitality  and  moisture 
led  the  ai  dents  to  suppose  that  water  was  the  parent  of  every  thing  possessed  of  life.[| 

)>.  tht  Nature. 'and  Trait  mmt  of  Stomach  and  Urinary  Diseases,  p  vi.     Lond.  1840. 

t  PecttMoeeoitst  from/wchn,  vegetable  jelly. 

$  Proieinaceous,  from  proteinc,  the  organic  constituent  of  fibrine,  albumen,  and  caseine.  • 

<5>  Needham,  Baker,  Spallanzani,  and  Fontana,  quoted  by  Tiederaann  in  his  Traite  Ccanplet  de  Physio- 
logic de  THomme,  p.  116. 

||  This  notion  is  said  to  have  been  derived  from  a  statement  made  by  Moses,  (Genesis,  ch.  i.  ver.  2.)  It 
is>  taught  in  the  Koran,  (Sale's  Koran,  vol.  ii.  p.  155,)  and  has  been  embraced  by  Milton,  (Paradise  Lost, 
Book  vii.  line  234.) 

i  il 


WATER. 


39 


A  very  large  proportion  of  the  human  body  is  aqueous.  The  blood  contains  about  80 
per  cent,  the  ffesh  about  74  per  cent,  of  \iater.  So  that  we  may  safely  assume  that  the 
entire  human  machine  contains  nearly  75  per  cent,  or  three  fourths  of  its  weight  of  water. 
But  as  by  evaporation,  as  well  as  by  the  processes  of  secretion  and  exhalation,  as  also 
perhaps  by  decomposition,  part  6f  this  fluid  is  wasted  or  consumed,  the  necessity  of  the 
use  of  water  as  a  drink  becomes  obvious.  In  fact,  it  is  more  necessary  to  our  existence 
than  solid  food  ;  and  in  this  point  of  view  it  holds  an  intermediate  rank  between  air  and 
solid  food,  being  less  essential  than  the  first,  but  more  so  than  the  last* 

The  water  contained  in  the  system  is  derived  from  the  aqueous  drinks  which  we  con- 
sume, as  well  as  from  the  moisture  contained  in  most  of  the  solid  substances  employed 
as  food.  "  Water,"  says  Dr.  Prout,f  "  enters  into  the  composition  of  most  organized 
bodies,  in  two  separate  forms  ;  that  is,  water  may  constitute  an  essential  element  of  a  sub- 
stance— as  of  sugar,  starch,  albumen,  &c.,  in  their  driest  states ;  in  which  case  the  water 
cannot  be  separated,  without  destroying  the  hydrated  compound.  Or  water  may  consti- 
tute an  accidental  ingredient  of  a  substance — as  of  sugar,  starch,  albumen,  &c.,  in  their 
moist  states;  in  which  case  more  or  less  of  the  water  may  frequently  be  removed  without 
destroying  the  essential  properties  of  the  compound." 

The  following  table  shows  the  quantity  of  accidental  water,  or  that  which  can  be  re- 
moved by  drying,  without  injury  to  the  compound,  in  various  articles  of  food: — 

QUANTITY  OF  WATER  IN  100  PARTS  OF  THE  FOLLOWING  FOODS. 


Gum  Arabic 

Sugar  Candy      .... 
Arrow-root  (by  drying  at  '212°  Fahr.) 
Wheat  (by  drying  at  230°  Fahr.) 

Rye  (ditto) 

Oats  (ditto) 

Barley  (ditto  at  212°  Fahr.) 

Maize  (ditto) 

Peas  .... 

Beans 

Lentils       .... 

Potatoes  (dried  at  230°  Fahr.) 

Turnips  (ditto)    . 

Carrots  (ditto  at  212°  Fahr.) 

Beet-root  (ditto  at  239°  Fahr.) 

Jerusalem  Artichoke  (ditto) 

Cabbage,  White  (ditto  at  212°  Fahr  ) 

Black  Bread 

Beef  Tea   . 

Blood 

Fresh  Meat 

Muscle  of  Beef 

Ditto 

Ditto  of  Veal 

Ditto 

Ditto  Mutton 

Ditto  Pork 

Ditto 

Ditto  Roe  Deer 

Ditto  Chicken 

Ditto 

Ditto  Pigeon 

Ditto  Cod 

Ditto  Haddock 

Muscle  of  Sole 

Ditto  Carp 

Ditto  Trout 


Water. 

.  17-6 

.  10-53 

.  18-2 

.  14-5 

.  16-6 

.  20-8 

.  13-2 

.  18-0 

.  16 

14-11 

.  15-9 

.  75-9 

.  92-5 

.  87-6 

.  87-8 

.  79-2 

.  92-3 

31-4  to  33 

.  9843T5 

.  80 

74-8  to  75 

.  74 

.  775 

.  75 

797  to  78-2 

.  71 

.  76 

.  78.3 

.  76-9 

.  73 

.  77-3 

.  76 

.  79 

.  82 

.  79 

.  80-1 

.  80-5 


Authority. 

Guerin. 

Peligot. 

Prout. 

Boussingault. 

Ditto. 

Ditto. 

Ditto. 

Ditto. 

Playfair 

Ditto 

Ditto. 

Boussingault. 

Ditto 

Ditto. 

Ditto. 

Ditto. 

Ditto. 

Boeckmann. 

Christison. 

Liebig. 

Bceckrnann. 

Brande. 

Schlossberger. 

Brande. 

Schlossberger. 

Brande. 

Ditto. 

Schlossberger. 

Ditto. 

Brande. 

Schlossberger 

Ditto. 

Brande 

Ditto. 

Brande. 

Schlossberger 

Ditto. 


*  See  Appendix,  H. 

t  On  the  Nature  and  Treatment  of  Stomach  and  Urinary  Diseases,  p.  xix.     Lond.  1840 


r 


<*u                                                           rvjuti»j.rji>  j./\i\  i    ^-Evimv^ij.  JLjino. 

Water. 

Authority. 

Calf  s  Sweetbread  (Thvrnu*)            .        .            70 

Morin. 

Ox's  Liver  (Farench 
Egg  (white  of)  . 
Ditto  (yolk  of) 
Milk,  Cows' 

yma  of) 

- 

6364 
85 
53.77 
87-0-2  T 

Bnironnot.* 
(Jmelin. 
Prout. 

Asses' 
Human 

Cjoats' 

• 

91-65 
87-9$  I 
86-8) 

O.  Henry  and 
Chevallier. 

Ewes                         .... 

85-62J 

Water  is  probably  the  natural  drink  of  all  adults.  It  serves  several  important  purpos- 
es in  the  animal  economy  :  firstly,  it  repairs  the  loss  of  the  aqueous  part  of  the  blood, 
caused  by  evaporation  and  the  action  of  the  secreting  and  exhaling  organs ;  secondly, 
it  is  a  solvent  of  various  alimentary  substances,  and,  therefore,  assists  the  stomach  in  the 
act  of  digestion,  though,  if  taken  in  very  large  quantities,  it  may  have  an  opposite  effect, 
by  diluting  the  gastric  juice;  thirdly,  it  is  probably  a  nutritive  agent, — that  is,  it  a*- 
the  formation  of  the  solid  parts  of  the  body.  From  the  latter  opinion,  which  I  hold  with 
Count  Rumford,*  many,  however,  will  be  disposed  to  dissent 

It  has  not,  indeed,  been  actually  demonstrated  that  water  is  decomposed  in  the  animal 
system,  or,  in  other  words,  that  it  yields  up  its  elements  to  assist  in  the  formation  of  or- 
ganized tissues ;  yet  such  an  occurrence  is  by  no  means  improbable.  It  appears,  from 
Liebig's  observations^  that  the  hydrogen  of  vegetable  tissues  is  derived  from  water ;  and 
it  is  not  probable  that  the  higher  orders  of  the  organized  kingdom  should  be  deficient  in 
a  power  possessed  by  the  lower  orders.  Dr.  Proutf  appears  to  admit  the  existence  of 
this  power,  but  thinks  that  it  is  rarely  exercised  by  animals.  *•  There  is  reason  to  be- 
lieve," he  says,  "that  the  decomposition  of  water  either  takes  place  when  in  a  state  of 
combination  with  other  principles,  or  during  the  act  of  its  separation  or  combination  with 
such  principles ;  and  that  water,  as  water,  is  rarely  decomposed  by  the  animal  economy  ' 

The  water  which  constitutes  an  essential  part  of  the  blood  and  of  the  living  tissues, 
assists  in  several  ways  in  carrying  on  the  vital  processes.  "  In  the  blood,"  says  Dr. 
Prout,§  "the  solid  organized  particles  are  transported  from  one  place  to  another ;  are 
arranged  in  the  place  desired ;  and  are  again  finally  removed  and  expelled  from  the 
body,  chiefly  by  the  agency  of  the  water  present"  It  is  from  water  that  the  tissues  de- 
rive their  properties  of  extensibility  and  flexibility.  Lastly,  this  fluid  contributes  to  most 
of  the  transformations  which  occur  within  the  body.  As  a  solvent,  it  serves  not  only  to 
aid  digestion,  as  already  noticed,  but  also  to  effect  other  changes.  Thus,  it  is  probable 
that  the  conversion  of  uric  acid  into  urea,  by  the  action  of  oxygen,  is  effected  by  the 
agency  of  water,  which  holds  the  acid  in  solution;  for  in  animals,  which  drink  much 
water,  no  uric  acid,  but  urea  only,  is  found  in  the  urine  ;||  while  in  birds,  which  seldom 
drink,  and  in  snakes,  uric  acid  predominates. 

CONVERSION  OF  URIC  ACID  INTO  UREA. 

C«     N«     H"     0« 


1  eq.  Uric  Acid  C"  N4  H«  O« 
4  eq.  Water  -  —  II<  O* 
6  eq.  Oxygen 


Total       C"    N«     H'     0" 


2  eq.  Urea 
6 


eq.  Carbonic  )  c<1  _       Qia 

Acid       J 

Total        C»~ 


II8     O" 


In  some  cases,  water  combines  chemically  with  substances  to  which,  therefore,  it  c<  11- 

*  Essays,  vol.  i.  p.  194,  5th  ed.     1800. 

t  Chemistry  in  its  Application  to  AgricuUurt  and  Physiology,  p.  63,  in  2d  ed.  1842. 

t  Op.  supra  cit.  p.  8.  $  On  the  Nature  nJ  Treatment  of  St(mach  and  Urinary  Dutases    o.  7. 

II  Liebig's  Animal  Ch<xnf*ry,  p.  Ki.t. 


j 


WATER.  41 


tributes  both  its  elements.  Thus  the  conversion  of  either  cane  sugar  (C12  Aqua11)  or 
starch  (C12  Aqua™)  into  either  sugar  of  milk  (C12  Aquan)  or  diabetic  sugar  (grape  sugar 
C12  Aqua1*)  can  be  effected  only  t>  the  addition  o'  water.  So  also  the  hydrochloric  acid 
of  the  gastric  juice  and  the  soda  of  the  blood  and  bile,  are  derived  from  common  salt 
(chloride  of  sodium)  by  the  aid  of  water. 

CONVERSION  OF  CHLORIDE  OF  SODIUM  INTO  HYDROCHLORIC  ACID  AND  SODA. 

1  eq.  Hydrochloric  )  rl  Tr 

Acid  { U1 

1  eq.  Soda  —    Na    —    O 

Total  Cl    Na    H    O 


1  eq.  Water  ——HO 


Total  Cl    Na    H    O 

Water,  considered  as  a  dietetical  remedy,  may  be  regarded  under  a  twofold  point  of 
view  ; — first,  with  respect  to  its  quantity ;  secondly,  in  reference  to  its  quality. 

In  some  maladies,  as  fevers  and  acute  inflammatory  diseases,  an  almost  unlimited  use 
of  aqueous  fluids  is  admitted  under  the  various  names  of  slops,  diluents,  thin  diet,  fever 
diet,  broth  diet,  &c.  They  quench  thirst,  lessen  the  stimulating  quality  and  augment  the 
fluidity  of  the  blood,  by  increasing  the  proportion  of  its  aqueous  part,  and  promote  the 
action  of  the  secreting  organs.  Moreover,  it  is  probable  that  they  may  promote  the  con- 
version of  uric  acid  into  urea,  as  above  referred  to.  Furthermore,  they  are  sometimes 
useful  by  lessening  the  irritating  contents  of  the  alimentary  canal. 

But  in  some  maladies  it  is  necessary  to  restrict  the  quantity  of  fluids  taken  ;  in  other 
words,  to  employ  what  is  called  a  dry  diet.  Thus,  we  employ  this  regimen  when  our 
object  is  to  keep  down  the  volume  of  the  circulating  fluid,  (as  in  valvular  diseases  of 
the  heart,)  or  to  prevent  thinness  of  the  blood,  (as  in  aneurism  of  any  of  the  great  ves- 
sels, when  our  only  hope  of  cure  depends  on  the  coagulation  and  deposition  of  fibnne 
within  the  aneurismal  sac,)  or  when  we  are  desirous  of  repressing  excessive  secretion,  (as 
of  urine,  in  diabetes.) 

Attention  to  the  qu^ality  as  well  as  to  the  quantity  of  the  water  employed,  as  a  drink,  is 
also  important ;  not  only  for  the  palliation  and  cure  of  some  maladies,  but  also  as  a  pro- 
phylactic means.  Now,  considered  with  regard  to  quality,  the  waters  furnished  us  by 
nature  are  conveniently  divisible  into  three  classes ;  viz.  1st,  Common  waters,  or  those 
employed  as  drinks,  or  for  dressing  food,  or  for  other  purposes  of  domestic  economy. 
2dly,  Sea  wacer,  or  the  water  of  the  ocean.  3dly,  Mineral  waters,  or  those  waters  which 
belong  to  neither  of  the  preceding  classes,  and  which  possess  some  peculiar  properties 
derived  from  the  presence  of  one  or  more  mineral  substances. 

From  any  of  these  waters,  though  usually  from  those  of  the  first  class,  we  obtain  dis- 
tilled water,  which  is  sometimes  used  for  dietetical  and  remedial  purposes.  These  dif- 
ferent kinds  of  water  require  separate  consideration. 

1.  COMMON  WATERS. — Under  this  head  are  included  the  waters  commonly  known  as 
rain,  spring,  ricer,  well  or  pump,  lake  and  marsh  waters. 

a.  Rain  Water. — This  is  the  purest  of  all  natural  waters.  Its  purity,  however,  is  sub- 
ject to  some  variation.  Thus,  when  collected  in  large  toivns  or  cities,  it  is  less  pure  than 
when  obtained  in  the  country  :  moreover,  it  is  usually  loaded  with  impurities  at  the  com- 
mencement of  a  shower,  but  after  some  hours  of  continuous  rain  it  becomes  nearly  pure  ; 
for  the  first  water  which  falls  brings  down  the  various  foreign  matters  suspended  in  the 
atmosphere.  Air  is  a  constant  constituent  of  rain  water.  Carbonate  of  ammonia  is  an- 
othtir  ingredient.  It  is  derived  from  the  putrefaction  of  nitrogenous  substances.  When 
several  hundred  pounds  'f  rain  water  "  weie  distilled  in  a  copper  still,  and  the  first  two 
or  three  pounds  evaporated  with  the  addition  of  a  little  muriatic  acid,  a  very  distinct 


42  ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLES. 

crystallization  of  sal-ammoniac  was  obtained  :  the  crystals  had  always  a  brown  or  yel- 
low color."*  "  It  is  worthy  of  observation,"  says  Liebig,  "  that  the  ammonia  contained 
in  rain  and  snow  water  possesses  an  offensive  smell  of  perspiration  and  animal  excre- 
ments,— a  fact  which  leaves  no  doubt  respecting  its  origin."  It  is  owing  to  the  presence 
of  carbonate  of  ammonia  that  rain  water  owes  its  softer  feel  than  pure  distilled  water. 
According  to  Liebig,  it  is  the  atmospheric  ammonia  which  furnishes  the  nitrogen  of 
plants.  The  traces  of  nitric  acid  which  have  been  detected  in  the  air  are  referable  to  the 
oxidation  of  the  constituents  of  ammonia;  and  not  to  the  direct  union  of  the  oxygen  and 
free  nitrogen  of  the  atmosphere.  A  carbonaceous  (sooty)  substance,  and  traces  of  sul- 
phates, chlorides,  and  calcareous  matter,  are  the  usual  impurities  of  the  first  rain  watrr 
of  a  shower.  Carbonate  of  lime,  and,  according  to  Bergrnann,  chloride  of  calcium,  are 
constituents  of  rain  water.  Zimmermann  found  oxide  of  iron  and  chloride  of  potassium  ; 
but  Kastner  could  discover  no  trace  of  iron  in  it,  though  he  found  in  dew,  meteoric  iron 
and  nickel.  Brandes  detected  various  other  inorganic  substances,  viz.  chloride  of  sodium, 
(in  greatest  quantity,)  chloride  of  magnesium,  sulphate  and  carbonate  of  magnesia,  and 
sulphate  of  lime.  He  likewise  mentions  oxide  of  manganese.  The  putrefaction  to  which 
rain  water  is  subject,  shows  that  some  organic  matter  is  present.  The  term  pyrrhin 
(from  Tt-^f,  red)  has  been  applied  by  Zimmeimann  to  an  atmospheric  organic  substance 
which  reddens  solutions  of  silver.  Whenever  rain  water  is  collected  near  large  towns,  it 
should  be  boiled  and  strained  before  use.  As  it  contains  less  saline  impregnation  than 
other  kinds  of  natural  waters,  it  is  more  apt  to  become  contaminated  with  lead  from 
roofs,  gutters,  cisterns,  and  water-pipes. 

Snow   Water  is  destitute  of  air  and  other  gaseous  matters  found  in  rain ;  and  hence 
fish  cannot  five  in  it     According  to  Liebig,  in  contains  ammonia.     It  lias  ai  g  jeer,  a 
popular,  but  erroneous  opinion,  that  it  was  injurious  to  the  health,  and  had  a  te;i 
to  produce  bronchocele.     But  this  malady  "occurs  at  Sumatra,  where  ice  and  snow  are 
never  seen  ;  while,  on  the  contrary,  the  disease  is  quite  unknown  in  Chili  and  Thibet,  al- 
though the  rivers  of  these  countries  are  chiefly  supplied  by  the  melfing  of  the  snow  with 
which  the  mountains  are  covered."f     Snow  does  not  quench  thirst;  on  the  contrary,  it 
augments  it;  and  the  natives  of  the  Arctic  regions  "prefer  enduring  the  utm< 
tremity  of  this  feeling,  rather  than  attempt  to  remove  it  by  eating  of  snow."|     When 
melted,  however,  it  proves  as  efficacious  as  other  kinds  of  water. 

b.  Spring  Water. — This  is  rain  water,  which,  having  percolated  through  the  earth,  re- 
appears at  the  surface  of  some  declivity.     During  its  passage,  it  almost  always  takes  up 
some  soluble  matters,  which  of  course  vary  according  to  the  nature  of  the  soil.     Its  con- 
stituents are  similar  to  those  of  well  water,  presently  to  be  noticed. 

c.  River  Water. — This  is  a  mixture  of  rain  and  spring  water.     When  deprived  of  the 
matters  which  it  frequently  holds  in  suspension,  its  purity  is  usually  considerable.     The 
following  are  the  solid  constituents  of  the  waters  of  the  Thames  and  Colne,  at  different 
localities,  according  to  the  analyses  of  Mr.  R.  Phillips.} 


*  Organic  Chemistry  in  it»  Application  to  Agriculture  and  Physiology  ;  edited  by  Lyon  Playfair,  Ph 
D.,  p.  75.  Lond.  1842. 

t  Paris,  Pharmacologvi,  6th  ed.  vol.  i.  p.  79. 

^  Captain  Ross's  Narrative  of  a  Second  Voyage  in  Search  of  a  Northwest  Passage;  and  of  a  Reti- 
dence  in  ih  •:  Arctic  Regions  during  the  years  1829,  1830,  1831,  1832,  and  1833,  p.  366.  Lond.  1S35. 

§  Re-jH/rt  from  the.  Select  Committee  of  the  House  of  LordS,  appointed  to  inquire  into  the  Supply  of  \V<ifcr 
to  the  Metropolis,  p.  91,  1810.— See  also  Dr.  Bostock's  analysis,  in  the  Report  of  the  Commissioners  ap- 
pointed to  inquire  into  the  State  of  the  Supply  of  Water  in  the  Metropolis,  1823. 


WATER, 


QUANTITY  OF  WATER. 

1  Gallon  =  lOlbs.  Avoirdup.. 
at  62°  F. 

or  70COO  grs.  Avoirdup. 

THAMES    WATER.                    !|                     COLNE    WATER. 

Brentford. 

Source  of 
the  Grand 
Junction 
Water  Works 
Company. 

Barnes. 

Source  of 
the  We*t 
Middlesex 
Water  Works 
Company. 

Chelsea.     \ 

Source  of 
the 
Chelsea 
Waterworks 
Company. 

Otterpool. 

sQenr 

Main 
Spring 

in  the  valley 
that  supplies 
the  Colne. 

Colne 

Itself 

Carbonate  of  Lime     .     .     . 

Sulphate  of  Lime    .     .       > 
Chloride  of  Sodium     .       5 

Oxide  of  Iron      .     .     .      ~J 
Silica                                    / 

Grs. 

16-000 

3-400 

Very 
minute 
portions. 

Grs. 
16900 

1-700 
V  Ditto. 

Grs. 
16-500 

2-900 
Ditto. 

Grs. 
18-800 

2-500 
Ditto. 

Grs. 
19-300 

2-500 
Ditto. 

Grs. 
18-100 

3-200 
Ditto. 

Magnesia   \ 
Carbonaceous  matter  .      j 

Solid  matter  held  in  solution 
Mechanical  Impurity  .     .     . 

19-400 
0-368 

18-600 
0-368 

19-400 
0-238 

21-300 
0-185 

21800 
0-262 

21-300 
0-126 

Total  Solid  matter  .     .     . 

19-768 

18-963 

19-638 

21-485 

22-062 

21-426 

No  notice  is  taken  in  these  analyses  of  the  gaseous  constituents  (air  and  carbonic  acid) 

of  river  water.* 

The  carbonate  of  lime  is  held  in  solution  by  carbonic  acid,  forming  bicarbonate  of  lime. 
By  boiling,  this  acid  is  expelled,  and  the  carbonate  of  lime  is  precipitated  on  the  sides  of 
the  vessel,  constituting  the  fur  of  the  tea-kettle  and  the  crust  of  boilers. 

Decomposing  organic  matter,  in  suspension  or  solution,  is  found  in  every  river  water 
in  a  greater  or  less  proportion.  Ordinarily  the  quantity  is  insufficient  to  act  injuriously  ; 
but  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  water,  strongly  contaminated  with  it,  must  be  deleterious. 
Where,  however,  the  quantity  present  is  insufficient  to  produce  any  immediately  obvious 
effects,  it  is  by  no  means  easy  to  procure  decisive  evidence  of  its  influence  on  the  system. 
In  those  cases  in  which  its  operation  has  been  unequivocally  recognised,  it  has  manifest- 
ed itself  by  the  production  of  dysentery.-}-  Its  influence  in  a  milder  form  is  attended  with 

*  Compare  with  this  the  composition  <•  f  the  Croton  Water,  with  which  the  city  of  New- York  is  sup- 
plied. 

One  Gallon  of  Croton  Water  contains,  ol 

Carbonate  of  Lime 
Sulphate  of  Lime     . 
Chloride  of  Calcium         ) 
Chloride  of  Magnesium    ) 
Carbonate  of  Magnesia    . 
Vegetable  matter  and  Iron,  a  trace 


1-52  grs. 
•44 

•90 

•84 


Total  Solid  Matter     .        .        .        4- 16  grs. 

The  Manhattan  water  in  Chambers  and  Reed  streets,  contains  125  grs.  of  solid  matter  in  each  gallon ; 
in  Bleecker-street,  20  grs. ;  and  in  13th-street  14  grs.  The  city  wells  in  the  lower  part  of  the  city  con- 
tain 53  grs.  of  solid  matter  to  the  gallon. 

Boston.—  This  city  is  supplied  almost  entirely  from  the  wells,  which  in  1835  were  2,767  in  number. 
"The  water  from  2,085  of  these  is  drinkable,  though  brackish  and  hard,  arid  682  of  them  are  bad  and 
unfit  for  use."  (Baldwin's  Report.)  Only  seven  of  the  city  wells  yield  soft  water,  occasionally  used 
for  washing  ;  from  33  wells  the  water  was  obtained  by  deep  boring,  and  only  two  of  these  furnish  soft 
water.  For  ft  ther  remarks  on  water,  see  Appendix  J.— L. 

t  At  the  Noitingham  Assizes  in  July,  1836,  it  was  proved  at  a  trial  (Jackson  versus  Hall)  on  which  I 
was  a  witness,  that  dysentery,  in  an  aggravated  form,  was  caused  in  cattle  by  the  use  of  water  con- 


44  ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLES. 

slight  relaxation  of  bowels.  "The  beneficial  effects  derived  from  care  as  to  the  qualities 
of  water,"  says  Mr.  Chadwick,*  "  is  now  proved  in  the  navy,  where  fatal  dysentery  for- 
merly prevailed  to  an  immense  extent,  in  consequence  of  the  impure  and  putrid  state  of 
the  supplies  ;  and  care  is  now  generally  exercised  on  the  subject  by  the  medical  officers 
>."  the  army.  ' 

The  decomposing  organic  matter  above  referred  to,  consists  principally  of  the  exuvite 
of  animal  and  vegetable  substances/}-  Tii3  water  of  some  of  the  wells  of  the  metropolis 
are  occasionally  contaminated  with  the  odor  and  flavor  of  gas-tar.  I  have  myself 
found  this  to  be  the  case  in  a  well  water  obtained  near  the  London  Hospital. 

laminated  with  putrescent  vegetable  matter,  produced  by  the  refuse  of  a  starch  manufactory.  The  fish 
(perch,  gui'geon,  pike,  roach,  and  dace)  and  frogs  in  the  pond,  through  wliich  the  brook  ran,  were  de- 
stroyed. All  the  animals  (cows,  calves,  and  horses)  which  drank  of  this  water,  became  seriously  ill,  and 
in  eight  years  the  plaintiff  lost  24  cows  and  (J  calves,  all  of  o  disease  (dysentery)  accompanied  by  nearly 
the  same  symptoms.  It  was  also  shovcn  that  the  animals  sometimes  refused  to  drink  the  water  ;  that 
the  mortality  \v;is  in  proportion  to  the  quantity  of  starch  made  at  different  times  ;  and  that,  subsequent- 
ly, when  the  putrescent  matter  was  not  allowed  to  pass  into  the  brook,  but  was  conveyed  to  a  river  at 
some  distance,  the  fish  and  frogs  began  to  return,  and  the  mortality  ceased  among  the  cattle.  The  symp- 
toms of  illness  in  the  cows  were  as  follows :  the  animals  at  first  got  thin,  had  a  rough,  staring  coat,  and 
gave  less  milk,  (from  two  to  three  quarts  less  every  day  ;)  they  then  became  purged,  passed  blood  with 
the  faeces,  and  at  length  died  emaciated  and  exhausted.  On  a  post-mortem  examination,  the  in: 
canal,  throughout  its  whole  length,  was  found  inflamed  and  ulcerated.  The  water,  which  I  examined, 
was  loaded  with  putrescent  matter,  and  contained  chloride  of  calcium,  (derived  from  the  chloride  of  lime 
employed  in  bleaching  the  starch.)  Traces  of  free  sulphuric  acid  were  occasionally  found  by  one  wit- 
ness. 

"Dr.   31.  Barry  affirms  that  the  troops  were  frequently  liable  to  dysentery,  while  tl  (  y  ircupicd  the 
old  barracks  at  Cork  ;  but  he  has  heard  that  it  has  been  of  rare  occurrence  in  the  new  bar. 
ral  years  ago,  when  the  disease  raged  violently  in  the  old  barracks,  (now  the  depot  for  convicts,)  the  rare 
of  the  sick  was,  in  the  absence  of  the  regimental  surgeon,  intrusted  to  the  late  .Mr.  Hell,  juir-ienn.  in 
Cork.     At  the  period  in  question,  the  troops  were  supplied  with  water  from  the  river  Lee.  \\hirli. 
inir  throiu'h  the  city,  is  rendered  unfit  for  drinking,  by  the  influx  of  the  contents  of  t  .<im  the 

houses,  and  likewise  is  brackish  from  the  tide,  which  ascends  into  their  channels.  Mr.  P.'-!!.  H;>pec.fmg 
that  the  water  might  have  caused  the  dysentery,  upon  assuming  the  care  of  the  sick,  had  a  iniiiilxT  •>( 
water-carts  engaged  to  bring  water  for  the  troops,  from  a  spring  called  the  Lady's  Well,  at  the  same  time 
that  they  were  no  longer  permitted  to  drink  the  water  from  the  river.  From  this  simple  but  judinou* 
arrangement,  the  dysentery  very  shortly  disappeared  among  the  troops."  (Dr.  Cheyne,  On  Dysentery 
in  flu-  Dtitilin  llusjiihil  RrjMtrlit,  vol.  iii.  p.  11.) 

*  Re/iort  to  her  Majesty's  Principal  Secretary  of  State  for  the  Home  Drparfnn  at,  tn>m  th<  Poor-Lav 
Commissioners,  on  tin  Inquiry  into  the  Sanatory  Condition  of  the.  Laboring  Population  of  tin  at  llnt'iin 
p.  78.  184* 

t  "  In  addition  to  its  saline  or  natural  impurities,  the  well  water  of  London  is  sometimes  eontaminatec 
by  organic  matters,  the  source  of  which,  especially  in  the  pump-water  of  churchyards,  is  sufficient  I  j 
obvious;  and  such  is  usually  the  place  selected  for  the  parish  pump.    This  disgusting  source  of  uate* 
should  be  avoided  ;  and  the  disgraceful  system  of  burying  the  dead  in  the  streets  of  the  metropolis  shonU 
be  authoritatively  discontinued.     Of  this  nuisance,  abundant  instances  occur  to  every  one  who  \\aJks 
about  London  ;  the  churchyard  of  St.  Clement's,  in  the  Strand,  is  a  fair  specimen,  and  there  -,,r 
iifinitely  worse.     In  these,  the  same  graves  a  e  repeatedly  opened,  and  the  coffin*  thrust  in  one  ii|>or) 
another,  according  to  the  most  inexplicable  system;  and  it  is  beneath  this  superstrati  ,n  that  the  water- 
of  the  adjacent  wells  flow,  in  some  instances,  perhaps,  deep  enough  to  avoid  direct  contamination,  but 
UMIT  free  from  the  suspicion  of  the  oozings  of  the  vicinity."     (Brande's  Diclion-iry  <J  M.ticrm 
a  d  Practical  Pharmacy,  p.  81.     1839.)     In   the  Report  on  the  Health  of  Towns,  (Efftct  of  ////,/, 
A  dies,}  dated  14th  June,  1842  (3*27)  it  is  stater!  that  this  pump  has  been  obligt-d  to  be  shut  up.  as  ihc 
water  was  found  to  be  unfit  for  use.     In  the  same  work,  Dr.  Copland,  in  his  evidence  before  th. 
mittee  of  the  House  of  Commons,  states,  that;  water  which  percolates  through  soil  abounding  in  animal 
matter  becomes  injurious  to  the  health  of  the  individuals  using  it.    This  fact,  he  says,  "  has  been  proved 


j 


WATER.  45 


The  quantity  of  organic  matter  contained  in  common  water  has  not  been  accurately  de- 
termined. Dr.  Lambe*  states,  that  from  thirty  gallons  of  Thames  water,  collected  at  Lon- 
don, he  procured  twenty-eight  grains  of  a  carbonaceous  substance.  But  from  Thames 
water  taken  out  of  the  river  at  Windsor,  the  quantity  was  considerably  less.  From  six 
gallons  of  water  he  did  not  procure  one  grain  of  this  charcoally  matter. 

Thames  water,  when  carried  to  sea  in  casks,  soon  becomes  putrid  and  offensive,  and 
evolves  inflammable  vapor.f  This  is  owing  to  the  presence  of  decomposing  organic 
matter.  If,  however,  the  water  in  this  fetid  state  be  racked  off  into  larger  vessels,  and  ex- 
posed to  the  air,  a  slimy  deposit  is  formed,  and  the  water  becomes  clear,  sweet,  and  pal- 
atable. 

I  have  already  had  occasion  to  refer  to  the  evolution  of  sulphuretted  hydrogen  gas  from 
waters  containing  both  sulphates  and  decomposing  organic  matter.}; 

Living  beings  (animals  and  vegetables)  constitute  another  class  of  impurities  of  river 
water.  But  the  public  has  formed  a  very  erroneous  notion  of  the  extent  and  nature  of 
this  source  of  impurity,  in  consequence  of  the  public  exhibition  in  London  of  aquatic 
animals,  by  means  of  the  solar  and  oxyhydrogen  microscopes.  The  animals  used  on 
these  occasions  are  collected  in  stagnant  pools  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  metropols  Atiu 
are  not  found  in  the  water  usually  supplied  for  domestic  use. 

Recent  microscopic  investigations  have  shown  that  animals  are  liable  to  both  vegetable 
and  animal  parasites,  (entophyta  and  entozoa.')  Thus,  goldfish  often  become  covered  with  a 
white  efflorescence,  and,  in  consequence,  languish  and  die.  When  examined  by  a  microscope, 
this  efflorescence  is  found  to  be  a  cryptogamic  plant,  and  to  consist  of  articulated,  cellular 
tubes,  some  of  which  are  filled  with  granules,  and  one  or  two  nuclei.  A  similar  growth 
sometimes  occurs  on  efts,  (Triton  cristata,)  by  which  the  tails  of  these  animals  are  grad- 
ually destroyed.  Now  it  is  by  no  means  improbable  that  disease  may  be  induced  in  a 
somewhat  similar  way  in  the  human  subject,  by  the  use  of  water  containing  the  shreds  or 
filaments  of  cryptogamic  plants.  This  suspicion  is  strengthened  by  the  case,  related  by 
Dr.  A.  Farre,$  of  a  woman  who  passed,  by  the  bowels,  substances  having  the  ordinary 
appearance  of  shreds  of  false  membrane,  but  consisting  entirely  of  confervoid  filaments, 
probably  belonging  to  the  genus  Oscillatoria.  The  patient  drank  the  ordinary  water 
which  supplies  London,  and  it  is  not  improbable,  therefore,  she  may  have  in  this  way  im- 
bibed the  reproductive  sporules.  In  the  same  way,  aquatic  animals  of  various  species 
may  be  occasionally  swallowed.  When  the  French  army  entered  upon  the  deserts  which 
separate  Egypt  from  Syria,  the  soldiers,  pressed  by  thirst,  threw  themselves  on  their  faces, 
and  drank  greedily  of  the  muddy  water,  and  which,  unknown  to  them,  contained  leeches, 

on  many  occasions,  and  especially  in  warm  climates ;  and  several  very  remarkable  facts  illustrative  of 
it  occurred  in  the  Peninsular  campaign.  It  was  found,  for  instance,  at  Ciudad  Rodrigo,  where,  as  Sir 
James  Macgregor  states,  in  his  account  of  the  health  of  the  army,  there  were  20,000  dead  bodies  put  in- 
to the  ground  within  the  space  of  two  or  three  months,  that  this  circumstance  appeared  to  influence  the 
health  of  the  troops,  inasmuch  as  for  some  months  afterwards  all  those  exposed  to  the  emanations  from 
the  soil,  as  well  as  obliged  to  drink  the  water  from  the  sunk  wells,  were  affected  by  malignant  and  low 
fevers,  and  by  dysenteries,  or  fevers  frequently  putting  on  a  dysenteric  character.  The  digestive  opera- 
tions are  affected  by  water  abounding  with  putrid  animal  matter;  so  that  burying  in  large  towns  affects 
the  health  of  individuals,  in  the  first  place,  by  emanations  into  the  atmosphere,  and,  in  the  second  place, 
oy  poisoning  tne  water  percolating  through  that  soil." 

*  An  Investigation  of  the  Properties  of  the  Thames  Water.     London,  1823. 

t  A  similar  change  is  reported  to  have  occurred  to  water  collected  at  St.  Jago,  (see  PMl.  Trans.  No. 
269,  p.  733,  vol.  22.  1701.) 

t  See  p.  32. 
Microscopic  Journal,  vol.  ii.  p.  189. 


46  ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLES. 

(Sanguisuga  frgyptiaca,')  having  the  form  of  a  horse-hair,  and  the  length  of  a  few  lines 
only.  Many  of  them  felt  immmediately  stings  or  prickling  pains  in  the  posterior  fauces, 
followed  by  frequent  coughs,  glairy  spots,  slightly  tinged  with  blood,  and  a  disposition  to 
vomit,  with  a  difficulty  of  swallowing,  laborious  respiration,  and  sharp  pains  in  the  chest, 
loss  of  appetite  and  rest,  attended  with  great  uneasiness  and  agitation.  On  press  jig  down 
the  tongue  of  the  individual  first  attacked,  a  leech  was  discovered,  which  was  with  diffi- 
culty removed  by  the  forceps.  Little  or  no  hemorrhage  followed,  and  the  patient  re- 
covered. Those  which  had  attached  themselves  to  the  posterior  fauces,  were  removed 
by  the  use  of  gargles  composed  of  vinegar  and  salt-water. 

d.  Well  Water. — This  is  water  obtained  by  sinking  wells*  As  it  is  commonly  raised 
by  means  of  a  pump,  it  is  frequently  called  pump  water.  Thp  constituents  of  ordinary 
well  water  are  similar  to  those  of  river  water  above  mentioned ;  but  the  earthy  salts  (es- 
pecially the  bicarbonate  and  sulphate  of  lime)  are  found  in  much  larger  quantity.  It 
usually  decomposes  and  curdles  soap,  and  is  then  denominated  hard  water,  to  distinguish 
it  from  river  and  other  waters,  which  are  readily  rniscible  with  soap,  and  which  are  termed 
soft  waters.  The  hardness  of  water  depends  on  certain  earthy  salts,  the  most  common  of 
which  is  sulphate  of  lime.  By  the  mutual  action  of  this  salt  and  soap,  double  decompo- 
sition is  effected  :  the  sulphuric  acid  unites  with  the  alkali  of  the  soap,  setting  free  the 
fatty  acids,  which  unite  with  the  lime  to  form  an  insoluble  earthy  soap.  Hard  water  is  ;i 
less  perfect  solvent  of  organic  matter  than  soft  water  ;  hence,  in  the  preparation  of  infu- 
sions and  decoctions,  and  for  many  economical  purposes,  as  for  tea-making  and  l>rvwiMir, 
it  is  inferior  to  soft  water  ;  and,  for  the  same  reason,  it  is  improper  as  a  drink  in  dyspeptic 
affections.  Moreover  it  proves  injurious  in  urinary  deposits.  The  unfavorable  effects  of 
hard  waters  on  the  animal  system  are  especially  manifested  in  horses.  "  Hard  \vairr, 
drawn  fresh  from  the  well,"  observes  Mr.  Youatt,f  "will  assuredly  make  the  coat  of  a 
horse,  unaccustomed  to  it,  stare,  and  it  will  not  unfrequently  gripe  and  otherwise  injure 
him.  Instinct,  or  experience,  has  made  even  the  horse  himself  conscious  of  this  ;  for  he 
will  never  drink  hard  water  if  he  has  access  to  soft :  he  will  leave  the  most  transparent 
and  pure  [1]  water  of  the  well  for  a  river,  although  the  water  may  be  turbid,  and 
for  the  muddiest  pool."| 

Mr.  Chadwick.J  observes  that  "  water  containing  animal  matter,,  which  is  the  most 

*  ARTESIAN  WELLS  are  vertical  cylindrical  borings  in  the  earth,  through  which  water  rUes-,  by  hy- 
drostatic pressure,  either  to  the  surface,  (spouting  or  overflowing  wells,)  or  to  a  height  convenient  for  the 
operation  of  a  pump.  (For  a  description  of  the  mode  of  boring,  and  of  the  tools  used,  see  Ure's  Dictionary 
of  Arts,  Momi^actefW)  nnd  Mines,  p.  57,  London,  1S3(J.  In  the  Penny  Cyclopaedia,  art.  Artesian  UV//.;.  is 
a  popular  and  interesting  account  of  these  wells.)  They  have  been  denominated  Artesian,  from  a  notion 
that  they  were  first  made  in  the  district  of  Arlois,  in  France.  It  is  probable,  however,  that  they  were 
known  to  the  ancients,  for  a  nolice  of  them  is  said  to  occur  in  Olympiodorus,  (l'a>- \ -.  l>>.«-ription  Giolo- 
L^IIHI'  dn  1  Vy mrlcm '  nl  d<-  hi  Seine  Infcrieure,p.  2(J2.  Rouen,  1S32.)  Proposals  have  been  made  for  supply- 
ing London  with  water  by  these  wells ;  which  would  derive  their  water  from  the  stratum  of  sand  and 
plastic,  day,  placed  between  the  London  clay  and  the  chalk  basin.  But  it  does  not  appear  that  a  suffi- 
cient supply  could  be  obtained  in  this  way.  (See  an  interesting  account  of  Artesian  Wells,  by  Mr. 
Webster,  in  the  Athenaum  for  183J,  p.  131.  Also,  Tran*  ictions  of  the  Institution  of  Civil  Engineers,  vol. 
i;i.  part  iii.) 

t  The  Horse,  p.  339.     London,  1831. 

4  "  Some  trainers  have  so  much  fear  of  hard  or  strange  -vater,  that  they  carry  with  them  to  the  differ- 
ent COUHCS  ihe  water  that  the  animal  has  been  accustomed  to  drink,  and  that  they  know  agrees  with  it." 

$  Report  to  her  Majesty's  Principal  Secretary  of  State  for  the  Home  Department,  from  the  Poor-Law 
Commissioners,  on  an  Inquiry  into  the  Sanatory  Condition  of  the  laboring  Population  of  Great  Britain, 
p.  77.  1842. 


WATER.  47 


feared,  appears  to  be  less  frequently  injurious  than  that  which  is  the  clearest — namely, 
spring  water ;  from  the  latter  being  oftener  impregnated  with  mineral  substances."  Satis- 
factory and  unequivocal  evidence,  however,  of  the  nature  of  tne  injurious  action  of  the 
saline  ingredients  of  common  waters,  is  not  readily  obtained,  but  the  most  obvious  and 
frequent  effect  is  diarrhoea.* 

Though  the  purest  waters  are  the  most  wholesome,  yet  very  pure  water  is  possessed 
of  one  very  dangerous  quality  ;  viz.  that  of  rapidly  corroding  lead,  and  thereby  acquir- 
ing an  impregnation  of  this  metal.  Distilled  water  has  no  action  on  lead,  provided  the 
air  be  excluded,  but,  when  this  is  admitted,  a  thin  white  crustf  of  carbonate  and  hydrate 
of  the  oxide  of  lead  is  speedily  formed.  Now,  it  is  very  remarkable  that  the  neutral 
salts  usually  found  in  spring  water,  impair  the  corrosive  action  of  water  and  arr,  and 
thus  exercise  a  protecting  influence.  To  the  presence  of  saline  matter,  therefore,  is  to  be 
ascribed  the  comparative  infrequency  of  the  plumbeous  impregnation  of  water  kept  in 
leaden  cisterns  or  transmitted  through  leaden  pipes.  All  salts  do  not  possess  an  equally 
protective  influence,  the  carbonates  and  sulphates  being  most,  the  chlorides  (muriates) 
the  least,  energetic  of  those  saline  substances  commonly  met  with  in  spring  waters.} 
Rain  and  other  pure  kinds  of  water  which  contain  but  minute  portions  of  these  protect- 
ing salts,  readily  acquire  an  impregnation  of  lead  from  roofs,  gutters,  cisterns,  or  pipes, 
made  of  this  metal.  "  There  is  another  way  in  which  lead  is  occasionally  acted  upon  by 
water,  and  to  which  attention  was  first  directed  by  Dr.  Paris :  it  is  in  consequence  of  gal- 
vanic action,  and  in  cases  where  iron  and  lead  are  in  metallic  contact,  as  often  happens 
in  the  employment  of  iron  bars  to  strengthen  and  support  leaden  cisterns,  and  in  the  in- 
troduction of  iron  pumps  under  similar  circumstances;  in  these  cases,  though  the  lead 
is -rendered  electro-negative,  and  so  far  protected  from  acid  reaction,  it  becomes  more 
susceptible  of,  and  exposed  to,  the  agency  of  electro-positive  elements,  among  which  are 
a.kalies  and  alkaline  earths,  and  these  exert  considerable  solvent  power  over  it.  So  that 
all  such  combinations  of  lead  and  iron,  zinc,  &c.,  should  be  cautiously  avoided.  Lastly, 
there  is  another  source  of  contamination  of  water  by  lead,  which  is  this  ;  leaden  cisterns 
have  often  leaden  covers,  and  the  water,  spontaneously  evaporating  from  the  cistern,  is 

*  Sulphate  of  lime  or  gypsum  is  the  ordinary  constituent  of  hard  waters.  Dioscorides  (lib.  v.  cnp. 
134)  describes  it  as  possessing  an  astringent  property,  and,  when  drank,  destroying  life ;  and  Pliny 
(lib.  xxxvi.  cap.  59)  states,  that  C.  Proculeius  killed  himself  by  taking  it.  From  the  few  observations 
respecting  it  which  have  been  published,  (see  Wibmer,  Die  Wirkung  der  Arzneimittel  und  Gifte,  vol. 
ii.  p.  11,)  it  appears  that  it  acts  on  the  system  as  an  astringent,  causing  constipation  and  disordered  di- 
gestion. Parent  du  Chatelet  (quoted  by  Mr.  Chadwick)  ascribes  to  it  a  purgative  quality  ;  and  refers 
the  chronic  diarrhcea,  so  often  observed  in  the  hospital  of  Salpetridre  and  the  prison  of  St. -Lazarus,  to 
the  "  very  great  proportion  of  sulphate  of  lime  and  other  purgative  salts  "  contained  in  the  water  with 
which  both  these  establishments  are  supplied. 

f  Dr.  Christison  (Transactions  of  the  Royal  Society  of  Edinburgh,  vol.  xv.  part  ii.  1842)  made  three 
analyses  of  this  crust,  and  found  that  it  consisted  of  Oxide  of  Lead,  Carbonic  Acid,  and  Water,  in  pro- 
portions which  nearly  correspond  to  the  formula  3  Pb  O  -{-  2  CO2  -j-  Aq. ;  that  is,  a  compound  of 
three  equivalents  Oxide  of  Lead,  two  of  Carbonic  Acid,  and  one  of  Water;  or  rather,  a  compound  of 
two  equivalents  of  Carbonate  of  Lead  in  union  with  one  equivalent  of  Hydrated  Oxide  of  Lead  — 
2  ;Pb  O  -f-  COS  )  4-  (Pb  O  -f-  Aq.) 

J  My  friend,  Professor  Daniell,  informs  me  that  he  has  found  lead  in  the  well  water  obtained  at 
Nor.vood.  The  water  is  very  hard  (that  is,  holds  a  large  quantity  of  sulphate  of  lime  in  solution)  and 
contains  much  free  carbonic  acid.  It  is  the  latter  ingredient,  apparently,  which  holds  the  lead  in  solu- 
tion, for,  by  boiling,  the  whole  of  the  lead  is  precipitated.  The  water  is  raised  from  the  well  by  a 
leaden  pump,  to  which  is  attached  a  few  feet  of  leaden  pipe.  Professor  Daniell's  attention  wf.s  di- 
rected to  the  subject  in  consequence  of  the  occurrence  of  several  cases  of  lead  colic  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  his  residence  at  Norwood.  (See  also  Pharmaceutical  Journal,  Nov.  1,  1842.) 


48  ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLES. 

condensed  (now  in  the  form  of  pure  or  distilled  water)  upon  the  lid,  upon  which  it  exerts 
its  usual  energetic  action,  and  drops  back  into  the  body  of  the  cistern,  contaminated  by 
lead  :  so  that  wood,  not  leaded,  should  be  used  in  all  cases  for  covering  leaden  reser- 
voirs."* 

Water  impregnated  with  lead,  in  the  way  above  alluded  to,  possesses  the  following  pro- 
perties : — By  exposure  to  the  air  it  becomes  covered  with  a  thin  white  film,  and  the  ves- 
sel in  which  it  is  contained  becomes  lined  with  a  thin  white  incrustation  of  a  pearly  lus- 
tre. This  crust,  dissolved  in  acetic  acid,  yields  a  solution  which  is  rendered  blackish 
brown  by  sulphuretted  hydrogen,  and  yellow  by  either  iodide  of  potassium  or  bichromate 
of  potash. 

The  continued  use  of  water  containing  lead  gives  rise  to  lead  or  painter's  colic,  which  is 
accompanied  by  a  narrow  leaden  blue  line  on  the  edges  of  the  gums  attached  to  the  necks 
of  two  or  more  (usually  incisor)  teeth  of  either  jaw,  (see  p.  32.)  If  the  cause  of  the 
malady  be  not  discovered,  and  the  water  not  discontinued,  palsy  usually  succeeds  colic.f  J 

The  following  conclusions,  drawn  by  Dr.  Christison,}  as  to  the  employment  of  lead- 
pipes  for  conducting  water,  are  of  considerable  importance,  and  therefore  deserve  espe- 
cial attention. 

"  1.  Lead-pipes  ought  not  to  be  used  for  the  purpose,  at  least  where  the  distance  is 
considerable,  without  a  careful  examination  of  the  water  to  be  transmitted. 

"  2.  The  risk  of  a  dangerous  impregnation  with  lead  is  greatest  in  the  instance  of  the 
purest  waters. 

"  3.  Water,  which  tarnishes  polished  lead  when  left  at  rest  upon  it  in  a  glass  vessel 
for  a  few  hours,  cannot  be  safely  transmitted  through  lead-pipes  without  certain  pre- 
cautions-H 

"  4.  Water,  which  contains  less  than  about  an  8000th  of  salts  in  solution,  cannot  be 
safely  conducted  in  lead-pipes  without  certain  precautions.il 

"  5.  Even  this  proportion  will  prove  insufficient  to  prevent  corrosion,  unless  a  con- 
siderable  part  of  the  saline  matter  consist  of  carbonates  and  sulphates,  especially  the 
former. 

"  6.  So  large  a  proportion  as  a  4000th,  probably  even  a  considerably  larger  proportion, 
will  be  insufficient,  if  the  salts  in  solution  be  in  a  great  measure  muriates. 

*  Brande's  Dictionary  of  Materia  Medico  and  Practical  Pharmacy,  p.  80.     Lond.  1839. 

f  See  my  Elements  of  Materia  Medico,  p.  793,  vol.  i.  2d  edit. 

J  Palsy  is  often  met  with  in  this  city  among  grocers  and  porterhouse  keepers,  and  is  doubtless  oc- 
casioned by  their  drinking  beer  in  the  morning  which  has  stood  in  the  lead-pipes  over  night. — L. 

§  Trans,  of  the  Royal  Society  of  Edinburgh,  vol.  xv.  part  ii.  p.  271. 

||  "  Conversely,  it  is  probable,  though  not  yet  proved,  that  if  polished  lead  remain  untarnished,  or 
nearly  so,  for  twenty-four  hours  in  a  glass  of  water,  the  water  may  be  safely  conducted  through  lead- 
pipes." 

1T  The  Croton  water  contains  about  one  18,000th  part  of  salts  in  solution,  and  of  course,  according  to 
Christison,  could  not  be  safely  conducted  in  lead-pipes.  Dr.  Kane,  however,  says,  that  "  no  danger  is 
to  be  apprehended  from  the  supply  of  water  to  a  city  being  conveyed  through  leaden  pipes,  and  pre- 
served in  leaden  cisterns,  for  all  water  of  mineral  origin  dissolves,  in  filtering  through  the  layers  of  rocks 
in  its  passage  to  the  surface,  a  sufficiency  of  saline  matters  to  serve  for  its  protection,"  (p.  395.)  Dr 
Turner  thinks  that  one  30,000th  part  of  phosphate  of  soda,  or  one  grain  to  51  pints  of  water,  will  pre- 
vent the  corrosion  of  lead;  and  according  to  Dr.  Pereira  this  salt  exerts  a  weaker  protective  influ- 
ence than  either  the  sulphates  or  carbonates.  Experiment,  however,  has  proved  that  Croton  water 
acts  with  great  rapidity  on  lead.  The  simple  experiment  of  immersing  a  piece  of  brightly  policed 
lead  in  water  for  a  few  hours,  will  show  whether  it  is  safe  to  conduct  such  water  in  lead-pipes.  If  the 
lead  is  tarnished,  it  proves  that  the  water  exerts  a  solvent  power  over  it,  and  therefore  such  a  practice 
should  be  prohib^ed. — L. 


WATER.  49 


"  7.  It  is,  I  conceive,  right  to  add,  that  in  all  cases,  even  though  the  composition  of  the 
water  seems  to  bring  it  within  the  conditions  of  safety  now  stated,  an  attentive  exami- 
nation should  be  made  of  the  water  after  it  has  been  running  for  a  few  days  through  the 
pip3S.  For  it  is  not  improbable  that  other  circumstances,  besides  those  hitherto  ascer- 
taii.ed,  may  regulate  the  preventive  influence  of  the  neutrai  salts. 

"  8.  When  the  water  is  judged  to  be  of  a  kind  which  is  likely  to  attack  lead-pipes,  or 
when  it  actually  flows  through  them  impregnated  with  lead,  a  remedy  may  be  found, 
either  in  leaving  the  pipes  full  of  the  water  and  at  rest  for  three  or  four  months,  or  by 
substituting  for  the  water  a  weak  solution  of  phosphate  of  soda,  in  the  proportion  of 
about  a  25tOOOth  part."* 

e.  Lake  Water. — This  is  a  collection  of  rain,  spring,  and  river  water,  usually  contami- 
nated with  putrefying  organic  matter. 

/.  Marsh  Water. — This  is  analogous  to  lake  water,  except  that  it  is  altogether  stag- 
nant, and  is  more  loaded  with  putrescent  matter.  The  sulphates  in  sea  and  other  waters 
are  decomposed  by  putrefying  vegetable  matter,  with  the  evolution  of  sulphuretted  hy- 
drogen ;  hence  the  intolerable  stench  from  marshy  and  swampy  grounds  liable  to  occa- 
sional inundations  from  the  sea. 

Tests  of  the  usual  Impurities  in  Common  Water. — The  following  are  the  tests  by  which 
the  presence  of  the  ordinary  constituents  or  impurities  of  common  waters  may  be  ascer- 
tained : — 

1.  EBULLITION. — By  boiling,  Air  and  Carbonic  Acid  gas  are  expelled,  while   Carbonate  of  Lime 
(which  has  been  held  in  solution  by  the  carbonic  acid)  is  deposited.     The  latter  constitutes  the  fur  or 
crust  which  lines  tea-kettles  and  boilers. 

2.  PROTOSULFHATE  OF  IRON. — If  a  crystal  of  this  salt  be  introduced  into  a  phial  filled  with  the  water 
to  be  examined,  and  the  phial  be  well  corked,  a  yellowish-brown  precipitate  (sesquioxide  of  iron)  v/i'l 
be  deposited  in  a  few  days,  if  Oxygen  gas  be  contained  in  the  water. 

3.  LITMUS. — Infusion  of  litmus  or  syrup  of  violets  is  reddened  by  a  free  Acid. 

4.  LIME  WATER. — This  is  a  test  for  Carbonic  Acid,  with  which  it  causes  a  white  precipitate  (car- 
bonate of  lime)  if  employed  before  the  water  is  boiled. 

5.  CHLORIDE  or  BARIUM.— A  solution  of  this  salt  usually  yields,  with  well  water,  a  white  precipitate 
insoluble  in  nitric  acid.    This  indicates  the  presence  of  Sulphuric  Acid,  (which,  in  common  water,  is 
combined  with  lime.) 

6.  OXALATE  OF  AMMONIA. — If  this  salt  yield  a  white  precipitate,  it  indicates  the  presence  of  Lime, 
(carbonate  and  sulphate.) 

7.  NITRATE  OF  SILVER. — If  this  occasion  a  precipitate  insoluble  in  nitric  acid,  the  presence  of  Chlo- 
rine may  be  inferred.  , 

8.  PHOSPHATE  OF  SODA. — If  the  lime  contained  in  common  water  be  removed  by  ebullition  and  ox- 
alic acid,  and  to  the  strained  and  transparent  water,  Ammonia  and  Phosphate  of  Soda  be  added,  any 
Magnesia  present  will,  in  the  course  of  a  few  hours,  be  precipitated  in  the  i'crm  of  the  white  ammo- 
niacal  phosphate  of  magnesia. 

9.  TINCTURE  OF  GALLS. — This  is  used  as  a  test  for  Iron,  with  solutions  of  which  it  forms  an  inky 
liquor,  (tannate  and  gallate  of  iron.)     If  the  test  produce  this  eflect  on  the  water  before,  but  not  after 
boiling,  the  iron  is  in  the  state  of  Carbonate :  if  after  as  well  as  before,  in  that  of  Sulphate.     Tea  may 
be  substituted  for  galls,  to  which  its  effects  and  indications  are  similar.    Fewocyanide  of  Potassium 
yields,  with  solutions  of  the  sesquisalts  of  iron,  a  blue  precipitate,  and  with  the  protosalts  a  white  pr«. 
cifitaie,  which  becomes  blue  by  exposure  to  the  air. 

10  HYDROSULPHURIC  ACID,  (Sulphuretted  Hydrogen.) — This  yields  a  dark  (orown  or  black)  precipi 
late  (a  metallic  sulphuret)  with  water  containing  Iron  or  Lead  in  solution. 

*  The  object  of  this  is  to  form,  while  the  water  is  at  rest,  a  fine  film  of  mUed  carbonate  and  phos- 
phate of  lead,  which  shall  adhere  so  firmly  as  not  to  be  swept  away  whe.i  the  water  is  allo\\  ed  to 
flow,  and  which  will  serve  as  a  lining  to  prevent  the  contact  of  the  running  water  with  the  metai. 


50  ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLES. 

11.  EVAPORATION  AND  IGNITION. — If  the  water  be  evaporated  to  dryness,  and  ignited  in  a  glass  tube, 
the  presence  of  organic  matter  may  be  inferred  by  the  odor  and  smoke  evolved,  as  well  as  by  the 
charring.  Another  mode  of  detecting  organic  matter  is  by  adding  nitrate  (or  acetate)  of  lead  to  the 
suspected  water,  and  collecting  and  igniting  the  precipitate ;  when  globules  of  metallic  lead  are  ob- 
tained if  organic  matter  be  present.*  The  putrefaction  of  water  is  another  proof  of  the  presence  of 
this  matter.  Nitrate  of  silver  has  been  before  mentioned  as  a  test.f 

Purification  of  Common  Water. — ~By\filtration  water  may  be  deprived  of  living  beings 
and  of  all  suspended  impurities.  But  substances  in  solution  are  not  got  rid  of  by  this 
proceeding.  Ebullition  destroys  the  vitality  of  either  animals  or  vegetables ;  expels  air 
or  carbonic  acid  ;  and  causes  the  precipitation  of  carbonate  of  lime.  Subsequent  filtra- 
tion may  be  advantageously  combined.  Distillation,  when  properly  conducted,  is  the 
most  effectual  method  of  purifying  water.  But  distilled  water  is,  in  general,  contami- 
nated by  traces  of  organic  matter,  (see  Distilled  Water.}  The  addition  of  chemical  agents 
to  water  is  another  mode  which  has  been  proposed  and  practised  for  freeing  water  from 
some  of  its  impurities.  Alum  is  oftentimes  used  by  common  people  to  cleanse  muddy 
water.  Two  or  three  grains  are  sufficient  for  a  quart  of  water.  The  alum  decomposes 
the  carbonate  of  lime  :  sulphate  of  lime  is  formed  in  solution,  and  the  alumina  precipi- 
tates in  flocks,  carrying  with  it  mechanical  impurities.  It  is  obvious  that  this  agent  adds 
nothing  to  the  chemical  purity  of  the  water,  but  by  converting  the  carbonate  into  sul- 
phate of  lime  augments  its  hardness.  Caustic  alkalies  added  to  lime  saturate  the  < 
of  carbonic  acid,  and  throw  down  the  carbonate  of  lime,  having  an  alkaline  carbonate  in 
solution.  A  patent  lias  recently  been  taken  out,  by  Professor  Clark,};  of  Aberdeen,  for  the 
purification  of  waters.  The  patent  process  consists  in  the  addition  of  lime  to  the  water. 
The  lime  unites  with  the  excess  of  carbonic  acid  in  the  water,  and  forms  carbonate  of 
lime,  (chalk,)  which  precipitates  along  with  the  carbonate  of  lime  held  previously  in  solu- 
tion in  the  water.  The  effect  of  this  process  is  similar  to  that  of  ebullition.}  It  has  no 

*  See  Dr.  Lambe's  Investigation  of  the  Properties  of  Tkames  IVater,  p.  11.  1828.— Also  Clement, 
Ann  de  Chim.  et  Phy*.  t.  iv.  p.  232. 

t  See  p.  42.  Also  Davy,  in  Jameson's  Journal,  Dec.  1828,  p.  123 ;  and  my  Element*  of  Matcria 
Medica,  pp.  257,  258,  259,  and  6S9. 

J  See  Repertory  of  Patent  Inventions,  for  October,  1841.  Also,  A  New  Procets  for  Purifying  the 
Waters  supplied  to  the  Metropolis  by  the  existing  Water  Companies  :  rendering  each  Water  much  softer, 
preventing  a  fur  on  boiling,  separating  vegetating  and  coloring  maltei*,  destroying  nvmei-ous  icater-in.ierts, 
and  icilhdraimng  from  solution  large  quantities  of  solid  matter  not  sparable  by  mere  filtration.  By  Tho- 
mas Clark,  Professor  of  Chemistry  in  the  University  of  Aberdeen,  2d  ed.  %Lond.  1341. 

§  Thp  patentee  asserts  that  his  process  renders  water  much  sorter,  and  calculates  that  if  his  patent 
were  adopted,  £63,000  would  annually  be  saved  to  the  metropolis  by  the  diminished  consumption  of 
soap  and  soda  Unfortunately  for  this  calculation,  it  does  not  appear  that  the  patent  process  has  much, 
if  any,  effect  in  lessening  the  hardness  of  water,  since  the  lime  used  merely  acts  on  the  bicarbonate  of 
lime  held  in  solution  in  the  water.  Xow  this  salt,  it  appears,  scarcely  affects  soap,  and,  then-lure, 
does  not  give  to  water  its  property  of  hardness.  Dupasquier  (Des  Eaux  de  Source  et  des  Eaux  de  Ri- 
viere, p.  105,  Paris  and  Lyons,  1840)  observes,  that  "It  is  generally. supposed  that  all  calcareous  salts 
equally  decompose  soap ;  but  though  this  is  true  for  the  sulphate  and  other  calcareous  salts  directly 
soluble  in  water,  us  chloride  of  calcium  and  nitrate  of  lime,  it  does  not  hold  good  with  regard  to  the 
carbonate,  which  is  held  in  solution  by  an  excess  of  carbonic  acid.  Numerous  experiments  have 
satisfied  me,"  he  adds,  "  that  the  latter  salt  has  only  a  slight  action  on  soap,  and  cannot,  in  the  pro- 
portions in  which  it  exists  in  potable  waters,  decompose  it,  by  giving  rise  to  the  formation  of  a  clotty 
precipitate,  as  we  observe  with  sulphate  and  nitrate  of  lime  and  chloride  of  calcium.  If  a  reason  for 
this  interesting  fact  be  required,  I  should  say  that  the  non-decomposition  of  the  soap  is  owing  to  the 
•xcesa  of  carbonic  acid,  which  prevents  the  reaction  of  the  calcareous  carbonate  on  the  oleate  and 
Rtearate  of  eoda  of  the  soap.  This  fact  completely  explains  why  the  waters  of  the  Roye,  the  llonzier, 


WATER.  51 


effect  on  the  gypsum  of  common  water,  and,  therefore,  can  have  little  or  no  influence  in 
rendering  hard  water  soft  Alkaline  carbonates  soften  water,  decompose  all  the  earthy 
salts,  (calcareous  and  magnesian  carbonates,  sulphates  and  chlorides,)  and  precipitate  the 
earthy  matters.  They  leave,  however,  in  solution,  an  alkaline  salt,  but  vhich  does  nrl 
communicate  to  water  the  property  of  hardness. 


SEA  WATER.  —  Under  this  head  are  included  the  waters  of  the  ocean,  and  of 
lakes,  called  inland  seas,  which  possess  a  similar  composition.  The  Dead  Sea,  however, 
differs  exceedingly  in  its  nature  from  sea  water,  and  may  properly  be  ranked  among 
mineral  waters. 

The  quantity  of  solid  matter  varies  considerably  in  the  waters  of  different  seas,  as  the 
following  statement  from  Pfaff*  proves  :  — 

10,000  parts  of  Water  of  Solid  Constituents. 

The  Mediterranean  Sea     ......     .     ..........     410  grs. 

English  Channel  ............  ......    330   " 

At  the  Island  of  Fohr  .     .     .     .     ......     345    " 


GermanOcean 


Baltic  Sea 


I  At  Ritzebiittel    .............  312  " 

>At  Apenrade,  in  Sleswick    .........  216  " 

At  Kiel,  in  Holstein     ...........  200  " 

At  Doberan,  in  Mecklenburg    .........  168  " 

At  Travemunde  ..............  167  " 

At  Zoppot,  in  Mecklenburg  .........  76  " 

AtCarlshamm    ..............  66  " 


We  shall  not  be  far  from  the  truth  if  we  assume  that  the  average  quantity  of  saline 
matter  is  3$  per  cent ;  and  the  density  about  T0274. 

The  composition  of  sea  water  varies  in  different  localities,  as  the  following  analyses! 
show : — 

Sea  Water.  Of  the  English  Channel  Mediterranean. 

(SCHWEITZER.)  (L.AURENS  ) 

Grain*.  Grains. 

Water 964-74372 959-26 

Chloride  of  Sodium 27-05943 27-22 

"        "     Potassium 0-76552 0-01 

"        "     Magnesium 3,66658 6-14 

Bromide  of  Magnesium 0-02929 — 

Sulphate  of  Magnesia 2-29578 7-02 

«        "      Lime 1-40662 0-15 

Carbonate  of  Lime 0-03301  and  Magnesia       0-20 


1000-00000  1000-00 

Iodine  has  been  found  in  »the  Mediterranean  Sea  by  Balard. 

Sea  water,  taken  internally,  excites  thirst,  readily  nauseates,  and,  in  full  doses,  occa- 
sions vomiting  and  purging.  The  repeated  use  of  it,  in  moderate  doses,  has  been  found 
beneficial,  on  account  of  its  alterative  and  resolvent  operation  in  scrofulous  affections, 
especially  glandular  enlargements  and  mesenteric  diseases.  Its  topical  action  is  more 
stimulant  than  common  water.  It  is  used  as  an  embrocation  in  chronic  diseases  of  the 
joints.  Employed  as  a  bath,  it  more  speedily  and  certainly  causes  the  reaction  and 
glow;  and,  consequently,  the  sea- water  bath  may  be  used  for  a  longer  period,  without 
causing  exhaustion,  than  the  common  water  bath.  It  is  a  popular  opinion,  whicl  's 

the  Fontaine,  and  the  Neuvillc,  which,  at  their  source,  contain  a  considerable  quantity  of  carbonate, 
but  extremely  little  sulphate  of  lime  and  chloride  of  calcium,  dissolve  soap  without  curdling  it."  Du- 
pasquier  then  proceeds  to  detail  a  series  of  experiments  in  support  of  the  above  statements. 

*  Schwartz's  Allegmeine  und  spccielle  Heilqudlenlehre,  2te  Abt.  S.  186.     Leipzig,  1839. 

t  jMiid.  and  Edin.  Phil.  Mag.  vol.  xv.  p.  51,  July,  1839.  Also,  Graham's  Elements  of  Chermstry,  vol.  i. 
p.  266. 


52  ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLES. 

perhaps  well  founded,  that  patients  are  less  likely  to  take  cold  after  the  use  of  salt  water, 
as  a  bath,  than  after  the  employment  of  common  water.* 

MINERAL  WATERS. — These  are  waters  which  belong  to  neither  of  the  preceding  classes. 
In  consequence  of  their  peculiar,  sensible,  and  chemical  properties,  they  are  not  applicable 
as  drinks,  or  for  the  general  purposes  of  domestic  economy. 

Those  mineral  waters  whose  predominating  active  principle  is  iron,  are  called  Chalybeate. 
or  Ferruginous.  They  are  of  two  kinds  ;  some  contain  carbonate  of  the  protoxide  of 
iron,  and  are  called  Carbonated  Chatybeates,  as  those  of  Tunbridge  Wells  ;  while  others 
contain  sulphate  of  iron,  and  are  termed  Sulphaled  Chatybeates ;  as  the  Sand  Rock  Spring, 
Isle  of  Wight. 

Some  mineral  waters  are  impregnated  with  sulphuretted  hydrogen,  and  have,  in  con- 
sequence, the  odor  of  rotten  eggs.  These  are  called  Sulphureous  or  Hepatic  waters. 
The  Harrowgate  waters  are  of  this  kind. 

Those  mineral  waters  which  are  brisk  and  sparkling,  and  have  an  acidulous  taste,  con- 
tain carbonic  acid,  and  are  called  Carbonated  or  Acidulous  waters  ;  as  those  of  Selters 
and  Pyrmont. 

The  last  class  of  mineral  waters  is  that  called  Saline.  It  includes  the  Purging  Saline 
(as  of  Cheltenham,)  the  Brine  (as  of  Cheshire,)  the  Calcareous  (as  of  Bath  and  Bristol,) 
the  Alkaline  (as  of  Malvern  and  Teplitz,)  and  the  Siliceous  (as  of  Geyser,  and  Reikum 
in  Iceland.) 

As  none  of  these  mineral  waters  are  employed  for  dietetical  purposes,  they  do  not  re- 
quire further  notice  here.f  J 

DISTILLED  WATER. — When  it  has  been  carefully  prepared  and  preserved,  this  water  is 
nearly  ptuc.  Its  taste  is  flat,  mawkish,  and  by  no  means  agreeable,  in  consequence  of  the 
absence  of  air  and  carbonic  acid.  It  is  unaffected  by  solutions  of  acetate  of  lead,  nitrate 
of  silver,  oxalate  of  ammonia,  chloride  of  barium,  or  soap.  It  usually  contains  traces  of 
organic  matter. 

Dr.  Wm.  HeberdenJ  suggests  its  dietetical  employment  as  a  substitute  for  common 
water,  where  this  was  bad  and  productive  of  diseases.  But  the  greatest  advocate  for  its 
use,  in  modern  times,  is  Dr.  Lambe,||  who,  regarding  the  presence  of  decomposing  organic 
matter,  in  common  waters,  as  noxious,  and  as  the  prolific  source  of  many  constitutional 
diseases,  proposed  distillation  as  the  most  certain  mode  of  getting  rid  of  it.  But  while,  on 
the  one  hand,  neither  the  public  nor  the  profession  has  adopted  his  opinion  of  the  injurious 
qualities  of  common  water,— on  the  other  hand,  the  difficulties  and  expense  of  procuring 
a  sufficient  supply  of  distilled  water  offer  a  serious,  if  not  fatal  impediment  to  its  extended 
and  general  use.  Moreover,  it  is  well  known  that  distilled  water,  as  ordinarily  met  with, 
contains  traces  of  organic  matter. 

In  some  calculous  affections,  as  the  oxalate  of  lime  diathesis,  the  employment  of  dis- 
tilled water  is  one  of  the  remedial  means  which  have  been  suggested. 


*  On  the  medicinal  properties  of  sea  water,  consult  Logan's  Observations  on  the  Effects  of  Sea  Water 
in  Scurvy  and  Scrophula,  London,  1770 ;  and  Dr.  R.  White,  on  The  Use  and  Abuse  of  Sea  Water,  Lon- 
don, 1775. 

t  Further  details  concerning  them  will  be  found  in  my  Elements  of  Materia  Medica,  vol.  i.  2d  ed. 

t  Appendix,  K. 

§  Remarks  an  the  Pump  Water  of  London,  in  the  Medical  Transactions  published  by  ike  Coltgc  of 
Physicians  in  London,  vol.  i. 

||  Reports  of  the  Effects  of  a  peculiar  Regimen  on  Sdtirrous  Tumors  and  Cancerous  Ulcers,  1809.  Ad- 
ditional Reports  on  the  Effects  of  a  peculiar  Regimen,  1815. 


GUM. 


53 


The  distillation  of  Water  at  sea,  for  the  use  of  mariners,  is  an  old  suggestion.  The 
proposition  seems  a  very  feasible  one,  as  it  may  be  effected  at  a  moderate  expense,  and 
all  danger  of  distress  from  want  of  Water  thereby  avoided.  Coulier*  has  more  recently 
insisted  on  the  advantages  to  be  obtained  by  the  use  of  distilled  water  on  ship-board,  as 
well  as  in  other  places  where  serious  maladies  have  been  ascribed  to  the  use  of  impure 
watnr. 

2.  THE  MUCILAGINOUS  OR  GUMMY  ALIMENTARY"  PRINCIPLE. 

(Muoilaginosa.     Gummata.) 

The  organizable  principle  termed  gum  exists  almost  universally  in  plants,  and  appears 
to  hold  the  same  position  in  the  vegetable  economy  that  albumen  does  in  the  animal.  It 
is  found  in  great  abundance  in  some  plants,  from  which  it  frequently  exudes  spontaneously, 
and  concretes  on  the  stem  in  the  form  of  tears.  In  this  way  are  obtained  Gum  Arabic, 
Gum  Senegal,  East  Indian,  Barbary,  and  Cape  Gums,  Gum  Tragacaiun,  the  Gum  of 
Cherry  and  Plum-trees,  and  Gum  Bassora. 

The  following  table  shows  the  quantity  of  gummy  matter  contained  in  various  vegeta- 
ble substances  used  as  food  : — 


QUANTITY  OF  GUM  CONTAINED  IN  100  PARTS  OF  THE  FOLLOWING  FOODS. 


Barley-meal 

Oatmeal 

Wheat-flour  . 

Wheat-bread 

Rye-meal 

Maize  . 

Rice 

Peas      . 

Garden  Bean  (Vina  Faba)   . 

Kidney  Bean  (Pkaseolus  vtdgaris) 

Potatoes 

Cabbage 

Sweet  Almonds   . 

Green  Gage  (ripe) 

Pears  (ripe  and  fresh) 

Gooseberries  (ripe) 

Cherries  (ripe)      . 

Apricot  (ripe) 

Peach  (ripe) . 

Linseed 

Marshmallow-root 


Gum. 

4-62 

2-5 

2-8  to  5-8 
18-0 
11-09 

2-283 

0-1  to  071 

6-37 

4-61 
19-37 

3-3  to  4-1 

2-89 

3-0 

4-85 

3-17 

0-78 

3-23 

4-85 

5-12 

5-2 
35-64 


Authority. 

Einhof. 

Vogel. 

Vauquelin. 

Vogel. 

Einhof. 

Bizio. 

Braconnot 

Einhof. 

Ditto. 

Ditto. 

Ditto. 

Schrader. 

Boullay. 

Berard. 

Ditto. 

Ditto. 

Ditto. 

Ditto. 

Ditto. 

Meyer. 

Buchner. 


The  gummy  matters  of  different  plants  differ  one  from  another  in  several  of  their  pro- 
perties. Some  are  soluble  in  water,  (soluble  gum;)  others,  however,  merely  swell  up,  and 
do  not  completely  dissolve  in  this  liquid,  (insoluble  gum.)  The  following  table  shows  the 
relative  proportion  of  soluble  and  insoluble  gummy  matters  contained  in  certain  mucilagi- 
nous alimentary  substances: — 

PROXIMATE  COMPOSITION  OF  SOME  MUCILAGINOUS  ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLES. 


100  Parts 

Gnm  Arabic, 
"     Senegal     . 
"     Cherry-tree 
"     Apricot-tree 
u    Plum-tree . 
"     Peach-tree 
"    Almond-tree 
"     Bassora      . 
"     Tragacanth 

Mucilage  of  Linseed 


Soluble  Gum. 

79-40 
81-10 
87-30 
89-85 
82-83 
82-60 
83-24 
11.20 
53-30 
52-70 


Insoluble  Gum. 


61-31 
33-10 
29-89 


Water. 
17-60 
16-10' 
11-20 
6-82 
15-15 
14-21 
13-79 
21-89 
11-10 
10-30 


Jiskeg. 
30 
2-8 
1-5 
333 
2.02 
3-19 
2-97 
5-60 
2-50 
7.11 


Compte*  Rendus,  1841,  p.  968. 


54  ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLES. 


Gum  consists  of  carbon  and  the  elements  of  water. 

COMPOSITION  OF  GUM. 

100  Parts  Carbon.  Water.  J^utkarity. 

Gum  Arabic     .     .  .     36-3  63-7  Prout. 

Ditto,  dried  at  212°  ....    41-4  58  6  Prout. 

Ditto,  dried  in  vacua      .     .     .    42-682  50-944  Oxyg.  -\-  6-374  Hydr.  Berzelins 

Ditto,  dried  at  324.5 .    .    .    .    45-10  48-8         "     +6-1        "  Mulder. 

The  atomic  formula  which  agrees  with  Berzelius's  analysis  is  C  *  -f-  Aqua"  :  whereas 
Mulder's  analysis  gives  C"  +  Aqua10  as  the  formula. 

Some  mucilaginous  substances  yield  nitrogen  ;  but  it  is  doubtful  whether  this  is  con- 
tained in  the  mucilage  itself  or  in  some  foreign  matter.  From  mucilage  of  linseed,  Guerin 
procured  7'27  per  cent,  of  nitrogen. 

Gum  is  usually  considered  to  possess  nutritive  properties,  but  to  be  somewhat  difficult 
of  digestion,  and,  therefore,  apt  to  disagree  with  dyspeptics.  According  to  Liebig,  it  is 
merely  an  element  of  respiration.  "  From  the  chemical  properties  and  analogies  of  this 
principle,"  says  Dr.  Prout,*  "it  is  probable  that  it  is  neither  converted  (at  least  so  readily) 
into  sugar  nor  oxalic  acid  as  farinaceous  matters."  May  it  not  be  advantageously  sub- 
stituted for  sugar  and  amylaceous  substances,  iii  diabetes  1 

Gum  is  sometimes  employed,  as  a  dietetical  agent,  by  invalids.  It  is  useful  as  a  de- 
mulcent or  soothing  agent  in  inflammatory  affections  of  the  mucous  membranes.  Gum 
Arabic  is  slowly  dissolved  in  the  mouth  to  allay  troublesome  cough  and  irritation  of  the 
throat.  It  is  also  used  in  irritation  of  the  intestinal  canal,  and  of  the  urinary  organs.  It 
may  be  taken  dissolved  in  milk. 

The  preparations  of  gum  in  use  are,  Gum  Water,  Mucilage,  Gum  Lozenges,  and  Gum 
Pastes  (Pa/es.) 

1.  Gum  Water. — Take  of  Gum  Arabic  from  half  an  ounce  to  an  ounce.     Wash  it  in 
cold  water  to  remove  any  bitter  matter,  and  then  dissolve  it,  by  maceration,  in  two  pints 
of  cold  water.     When  made  with  either  powdered  gum  or  hot  water,  the  flavor  of  the 
solution  is  less  agreeable.     Gum  water  is  employed  as  a  demulcent  drink  in  colds  and 
coughs,  and  iii  inflammatory  affections  of  the  alimentary  canal  and  urinary  organs. 

2.  Mucilage. — Take  of  Gum  Arabic  nine  ounces ;  wash  it  with  a  little  cold  water,  tie 
it  up  in  a  linen  bag,  and  macerate  it  in  one  pint  of  cold  water,  occasionally  squeezing  it 
gently.     Its  uses  are  similar  to  those  of  gum  water.     It  is  sometimes  employed  as  a  vehi- 
cle for  the  exhibition  of  medicinal  powders. 

3.  Gum  Arabic  Lozenges. — Gum  Arabic  is  a  constituent  of  most  kinds  of  lozenge?,  but 
of  one  kind  (gum  lozenges)   it  is  the  essential  ingredient;  the  other  constituents  being 
sugar  and  starch.     These  are  employed  as  an  agreeable  pectoral,  to  allay  the  tickling  in 
the  throat  which  provokes  coughing. 

4.  Gum  Pastes  (P&tes.) — These  consist  essentially  of  gum  and  sugar,  to  which  some 
medicinal  substance  is  sometimes  added.     They  are  transparent  or  opaque.     The  Pate 
de  Jujubes  is  a  transparent  gum  paste,  colored  either  pink  or  yellow.     It  should  be  flavor- 
ed with  a  decoction  of  jujubes,  (the  fruits  of  Zizyphus  -culgaris.)     It  is  a  popular  remedy 
to  ?Jiay  teasing  coughs.     The  Pate  de  Gomme  Arab-ique  or  Gum  Paste,  commonly  called 
Pate  de  Guimauve,  or  Marshmallow  Paste,  consists  of  gum,  sugar,  and  white  of  eggs, 
flavored  with  orange-flower  water.     Formerly  an  infusion  of  marshmallow  root  was  used 
in  its  preparation.     It  is  opaque,  and  is  employed  as  a  pectoral. 


*  On  the  Nature  and  Treatment  of  Stomach  and  Urinary  Diseases,  p.  299.     1840. 


SUGAR. 


55 


3.  THE  SACCHARINE  ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLE.— (Saccharina.) 

Saccharine  natter  exists  in  both  vegetables  and  animals.  In  the  former  it  is  very  gen- 
erally distribin  3d.  The  following  table  shows  the  quantity  of  it  which  is  contained  in 
various  alimentary  substances. 

Sugar. 

Barley-meal .  .        521 

Oat-meal (including  bitter  matter)    8-25 

Wheat-flour     ....  4-2  to  8-48 

Wheat-bread ....        3-6 

Rye-meal 3-28 

Maize 1'45 

Rice  0-05  to  0-29 


2-0 
6-0 

.      62-5 
.       11-61 
.       12-5 
6-45 

.       11-52 
6-24 

.  18-12 
.  11-61 
.  16-48 

1-5 

.      93-71 
5  to  9 
.    5-8  to  10 
.       4-771 
.       6-03 

Woman's  Milk 6-50  V 

Goat's  Milk  ....  ...  .       5-23] 

Ewe's  MiU;  .       5-OOJ 


Peas        .  

Sweet  Almonds 

Figs  .        

Green  Gage  (ripe)  ...... 

Tamarinds 

Pears  (ripe  and  fresh) 

Ditto  (kept  for  some  time)       .... 

Gooseberries  (ripe) 

Cherries  (ripe) 

Apricot  (ripe) 

Peach  (ripe)  

Melon     .      • 

Expressed  Carrot  juice  evaporated  to  dryness 

Beet-root 

Ditto       .        . 

Cow's  Milk 

Milk 


Authority. 
Einhof. 
Vogel. 
Vauquelin. 
Vogel. 
Einhof. 
Gorham. 
Braconnot. 
Einhof. 
Boullay. 
Bley. 
Berard. 
Vauquelin. 
Berard. 
Ditto. 
Ditto 
Ditto. 
Ditto. 
Ditto. 
Payen. 

Wackenroder. 
Payen. 
Pelouze. 


O.  Henry  and 
Chevallier 


The  substances  to  which  I  apply  the  term  saccharine  are  not  uniform  in  their  proper- 
ties ;  but  differ  more  or  less  from  each  other  in  their  susceptibility  of  undergoing  the  pro- 
cess of  vinous  fermentation,  in  their  crystallizability,  solubility,  and  composition. 


TABLE  OF  SACCHARINE  MATTERS. 


Saccliarine  Matters  suscrptible  of  Vinous  Fermentation, 
(Sugars  properly  so  called.) 


1.  CRYSTALLIZABLE.  This  division  includes  three 
kinds  of  Sugar : 

a.  Common  Sugar,  comprehending  Cane,  Maple, 
and  Beet-root  Sugar,  whose  formula  is  C12 
Aqua11. 

b.  Sugar  of  Milk  or  Lactine.  composed  of  C11 
Atfuti13. 

c.  Granular  Sugar  or  Glucose,  including  the  Su- 
gar of  Fruits  (as  of  Grapes,)  and  Diabetic  Su- 
gar, whose  formula  is  Clz  Aqua?*. 

2.  UNCRYSTALMZABLE.      This  division  compre- 
hends the  liquid  or  mucous  sugars,  as  Treacle. 


Sact-\arine  Matters  unsusceptible  of  Vinous  Fermenta 
tion. 


1.  CRYSTALLIZABLE.  This  division  includes  Man- 
nite  (and  Canellin  ?)  whose  formula,  according 
to  Liebig,  is  C8  HT  O8. 

2.  UNCRYSTALLIZABLE.      This  division  compre- 
hends at  least  two  kinds  of  sugar. 

a.  Glycyrrhizin  or  Liquorice  Sugar. 

b.  Glycerine,   Hydrated  Oxide  of  Glycerulc,  or 
Sweet  Principle  of  Oils,  whose  formula  is  C° 
II7  O"  +  Aqua. 


The  following  table  shows  the  relative  proportions  of  carbon  an  I  water  (or  its  e'emer.ts) 
contained  in  several  varieties  of  saccharine  matters,  according  to  Dr.  Prout  :* — 

COMPOSITION  OF  SACCHARINE  SUBSTANCES 

100  Parts.  Carbon.  Water 

Pure  Sugar  Candy        ....  42-85  57-15 

Impure  ditto 41-5  to  42-5  58  5  to  57-5 

East  India  ditto     .  ...          41-9  58-1 

Englished  refined .  .        .        .          41-5  to  42-5  53-5  to  57  5 

*  Phil.  Trans,  for  1827,  p.  355. 


Maple     . 

Beet-root 

East  India  moist    . 

Diabetic 

Of  .\arhonne  Honey 

Of  Starch 


56  ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLES. 

100  Par/5.  Carbon.  Water. 

East  India  refined .  .  42-2  57-8 

42-1  57-9 

42-1  57-9 

40-88  59-12 

36  to  40  ?  64  to  60  ? 

3636  63-63 

36-2  63-8 

Of  Milk          ...'..  .         40-0  60-0 

Those  varieties  which  contain  the  smallest  quantity  of  water,  Dr.  Prout  terms  strong 
or  high ;  while  such  as  contain  the  largest  proportions,  he  denominates  weak  or  Imc. 
Thus  sugar-candy  is  a  high  or  strong  sugar — sugar  of  starch  a  weak  or  low  one. 

Sugar  is  usually  regarded  as  a  nutritious  substance,  but  Lic'big  declares  that  it  is  mere- 
ly an  element  of  respiration,  as  I  have  already  stated.  (See  pp.  16,  18  foot-note,  19, 
20,  23,  25,  and  26.)  Many  insects  (especially  the  Lepidoplera,  Hymenoptera,  and  Diptera) 
feed  on  sugar  or  saccharine  liquids.  During  the  sugar  season  of  the  West  India  Islands 
"  every  negro  on  tht  plantations,  and  every  animal,  *ven  the  dogs,  grow  fat."*  The  in- 
jurious effects  which  have  been  ascribed  to  sugar  are  more  imaginary  than  real ;  for  some 
individuals  have  consumed  large  quantities  of  it,  for  a  long  series  of  years,  without  suf- 
fering any  ill  consequences  therefrom.  We  are  told  that  Henry,  Duke  of  Beaufort,  who 
died  about  1702,  ate  nearly  a  pound  of  sugar  daily  for  40  years.  He  died  of  fever  in  the 
70th  year  of  his  age.  He  was  never  troubled  with  cough,  his  teeth  were  firm,  and  all  tes 
viscera  were  found,  after  death,  quite  sound.f 

The  fondness  of  children  for  saccharine  substances  may  be  regarded  as  a  natural  in- 
stinct ;  since  nature,  by  placing  it  in  milk,  evidently  intended  it  to  form  a  part  of  their 
nourishment  during  the  first  period  of  their  existence.  Instead,  therefore,  of  repressing 
this  appetite  for  sugar,  it  ought  rather  to  be  gratified  in  moderation.  The  popular  notion 
of  its  having  a  tendency  to  injure  the  teeth  is  totally  unfounded.  "  It»has  been  alleged," 
says  Dr.  Wright,  "that  the  eating  of  sugar  spoils  the  color  of,  and  corrupts,  the  teeth: 
this,  however,  proves  to  be  a  mistake,  for  no  people  on  the  earth  have  finer  teeth  than 
the  negroes  in  Jamaica."  It  is  probable,  therefore,  that  this  erroneous  notion  has  been 
propagated  by  frugal  housewives  in  order  to  deter  children  from  indulging  in  an  (  I 
sive  luxury. 

Sugar  is  readily  digested  by  the  healthy  stomach  ;  though  in  some  dyspeptic  individuals, 
it  is  apt  to  give  rise  to  flatulency  and  preternatural  acidity  of  stomach.  In  these  cases  it 
probably  yields  lactic  acid.|  "In  certain  diseases,"  says  Liebig,}  "there  are  produced 

*  Dr.  Wright,  Medicinal  Plants  of  Jamaica. 

t  See  Dr.  Slare's  Vindication  of  Sugar,  p.  59.    Lond.  171  ii. 

t  Anhydrous  lactic  acid  (in  lactate  of  zinc)  consists  of  C6  IIs  0s  .  Hence  one  equivalent  of  cry.-tul- 
lizeii  Cane  Sugar  (C19  Hu  O11)  contains  the  elements  of  two  equivalents  of  lactic  acid  2  (C«  II5  O"1  )  plus 
one  equivalent  of  water.  But  when  lactic  acid  is  formed  out  of  sugar,  there  are  also  produced  mannite 
and  mucilage,  (hence  the  process  is  termed  the  viscous  or  mucilaginous  fermentation,}  while  gas  is  evolved. 
Now,  two  equivalents  of  mannite  2  (Cfl  H7  O6  )  are  equal  to  one  equivalent  of  granular  sugar  (C12  II14  O14 
minus  two  equivalents  of  oxygun.  Consequently  one  equivalent  of  lactic  acid  (C6  IIs  O5 )  and  one 
equivalent  of  mannite  (C°  II7  O8 )  me  equal  to  one  equivalent  of  sugar  of  milk  minus  one  equivalent  of 
oxygen 


1  eq.  Lactic  Acid        .        C«  HB  O» 
1  eq.  Mannite      .        .        C6  H7  Ofi 

Total  C'21I»O" 


1  eq.  Sugar  of  Milk         C"  H12  O» 
Abstract          .          . O 


Residue        .        C13H"O» 


Lvvbig  suggests  that  lactic  acid  anr1.  mannite  may,  therefore,  be  formed  by  the  deoxidation  of  sugar, — 
part  01  c.ie  oxygen  of  which  is  consumed  in  the  oxidation  of  the  elements  of  the  nitrogeniied  sub- 
stances prevent  in  the  fermenting  liquids. 

$  Animal  Chemistry,  pp.  111-ll-j. 


SUGAR.  „  57 


from  the  starch,  sugar,  &c.  of  the  food,  lactic  acid  arid  mucilage.  These  are  the  very  same 
products  which  are  produced  out  of  sugar  by  means  of  membrane  in  a  state  of  decompo- 
sition out  of  the  body ;  but  in  a  normal  state  of  health,  no  lactic  acid  is  forn.t, J  in  the 
stomach." 

In  diabetes,  the  power  of  assimilating  saccharine  matter  is  in  a  great  measure,  if  not 
wholly,  lost ;  and  hence,  therefore,  the  dietetical  employment  of  sugar  and  sweet  foods,  in 
this  malady,  is  highly  improper.  In  the  oxalate  of  lime  diathesis,  likewise,  these  foods  are 
objectionable.  "  I  have  seen  repeated  cases,"  says  Dr.  Prout,  "in  which  the  too  free  use, 
or  rather  abuse,  of  sugar,  has  given  occasion  to  the  oxalic  acid  form  of  dyspepsia  ;  and 
sooner  or  later,  under  favorable  circumstances,  to  the  formation  of  an  oxalate  of  lime  cal- 
culus." In  the  phosphatic  diathesis,  the  copious  use  of  unrefined  sugar  is  objectionable,  on 
account  of  the  lime  contained  in  it. 

The  varieties  and  preparations  of  sugar  used  for  dietetical  purposes  are  very  numerous. 
The  following  are  all  which  it  is  necessary  to  notice  : — 

1.  Purified  or  Refined  Sugar. — This  is  met  with  in  the  shops  either  in  conical  loaves, 
(Loaf  Sugar,)  or  truncated  cones  called  lumps,  (Lump  Sugar,)  of  various  sizes  and  degrees 
of  purity.    Small  lumps  are  called  Tillers.  The  finest  refined  sugar  is  perfectly  white,  and 
is  termed  double  refined ;  the  inferior  kind  has  a  slightly  yellowish  tint,  and  is  called  single 
refmed.     Both   varieties  are  compact,  porous,  friable,  and  made  up  of  small  crystalline 
grains.* 

2.  Brown  Sugarf  occurs  in  commerce  in  the  form  of  a  coarse  powder,  composed  of 
shining  crystalline  grains.     It  is  more  or  less  damp  and  sticky,  and  has  a  peculiar  smell 
and  a  very  sweet  taste.     Its  color  is  brownish  yellow,  but  varies  considerably  in  intensity. 
Muscovado  or  raw  sugar,  sometimes  termed  Foot  Sugar,  has  the  deepest  color,  and  is  in- 
termixed with  lumps.     Bastard  is  a  finer  kind  prepared  from  molasses,  and  the  green 
syrups. 

Raw  sugar  contains  several  impurities  from  which  it  may  be  freed  by  the  process  of  re- 
fining. Its  color  is  owing  to  the  presence  of  uncrystallizable  sugar,  (treacle.)  In  an 
aqueous  solution  of  raw  sugar  lime  is  detected  by  oxalic  acid.  By  keeping,  it  is  well 
known  that  a  strong  raw  sugar  becomes  weak,  that  is,  soft,  clammy,  and  gummy.  This 
change  Professor  Daniellf  ascribes  to  the  action  of  the  lime.  Subphosphate  of  lime  is  another 
constituent  of  raw  sugar.]:  Glutinous  and  gummy  matters,  and  traces  of  tannic  acid,  are 
also  present  in  raw  sugar.  The  crystal  sugar  brought  from  Demerara  (and  St.  Vincent's  ?) 
is  the  finest  and  purest  kind  of  the  colored  sugars  which  are  imported.  Its  color  is  pale 
yellow,  and  its  crystals  are  larger  and  more  brilliant  than  the  preceding  varieties.  It  is 
used  for  sweetening  coffee.  On  account  of  the  before-mentioned  impurities,  unrefined 
sugar  is  an  improper  article  of  diet  for  those  afflicted  with  calculous  disorders. 

3.  Sugar  Candy. — This  is  crystallized  cane-sugar.     It  is  prepared  from  concentrated 
syrup.     The  crystals  deposit  themselves,  as  the  liquid  cools,  on  the  sides  of  the  vessel  and 

*  Appendix,  L. 

Brown  sugar  is  extensively  adulterated  with  sugar  prepared  from  potato  starch,  as  well  as  with  that, 
made  from  sago  flour.  Potato  sugar  is  manufactured  at  Stratford,  in  Essex.  It  is  clammy,  and  wants 
that  sparkling  crystalline  appearance  possessed  by  West  Indian  sugar,  is  much  less  sweet  than  the  lat- 
ter, and  possesses  a  bitter  somewhat  unpleasant  taste.  Trommer  (Pharm.  Cenlral-Blatl  fur  1841,  p.  762 
• — 4)  and  more  recently  Krantz  (Annals  of  Chemistry,  Nov.  11,  1842)  have  pointed  out.  the  means  of  de- 
tecting sugar  of  str.rch  in  cane  sugar.  t  Quarterly  Journal  of  Science,  vol.  vi.  p.  33. 

t  Avequin  (Journal  de  Pharmade,  torn,  xxvii.  p.  15)  states  that  the  crust,  which  deposits  in  the  boilers 
during  the  manufacture  of  raw  sugar,  contains,  after  it  has  been  calcined  to  destroy  the  saccharine  and 
other  vegetable  matters,  in  100  parts,  subphoephate  of  lime  92-43,  lime,  in  part  carbonated,  T35,  silica  4'7, 
and  phosphate  of  copper  1-41. 


L  oiuer 
andp 


58  %  ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLES. 

on  strings  stretched  across.  The  form  of  the  crystals  is  an  oblique  rhombic  prism.  Three 
kinds  of  candy  are  sold — the  white,  the  brown,  and  the  pink.  Powdered  candy  is  ised  to 
sweeten  coffee. 

4.  Aqueous  Solutions  of  Sugar. — Sugar  water   is  frequently  used  at  the  table  on  the 
continent.     Syrup  is  prepared  by  dissolving  two  pounds  and  a  half  of  sugar  in  a  \vin<>- 
pint  of  water,  by  the  aid  of  a  gentle  heat.     If  necessary  it  may  be  clarified  by  white  of  egg. 
It  is  used  for  sweetening. 

5.  Boiled  Sugars. — If  a  small  quantity  of  water  be  added  to  sugar,  the  mixture  heated 
till  the  sugar  dissolves,  and  the  solution  boiled  to  drive  off  part  of  the  water,  the  tendency 
of  the  sugar  to  crystallize  is  diminished,  or,  in  some  cases,  totally  destroyed.     To  promote 
this  effect,  confectioners  sometimes  add  a  small  portion  of  cream  of  tartar  to  the  solution 
while  boiling.     Sugar  thus  altered  by  heat,  and  sometimes  variously  flavored,  constitutes 
several  preparations  sold  by  the  confectioner.     Barley  Sugar  and  Acidulated  Drops  are 
prepared  in  this  way  from  white  sugar ; — powdered  tartaric  acid  being  added  to  the  sugar 
while  soft,  when  the  drops  are  prepared.     Hardbake  and  Toffee  are  made  by  a  similar  pro- 
cess from  brown  sugar.     Toffee  differs  from  Hardbake  in  containing  butter.     The  orna- 
mental sugar-pieces  or  caramel-lops  with  which  pastry-cooks  decorate  their  tarts,  &c.  are 
prepared  in  the  same  way.     If  the  boiled  and  yet  soft  sugar  be  rapidly  and  repeatedly  « ex- 
tended, and  pulled  over  a  hook,  it  becomes  opaque  and  white,  and  then  constitutes  1' 
Sugar  or  Penides.     Pulled  sugar,  variously  flavored  and  colored,  is  sold  in  several  forms 
by  the  preparers  of  hard  confectionery. 

6.  Molasses  and  Treacle. — The  brown,  saccharine,  viscid  fluid,  which  drains  from  raw 
sugar  when  placed  in  hogsheads,  is  called  Molasses,  and  is  used   in  the  preparation  of 
brown  sugar.     It  is  imported  from  the  West  Indies  in  casks.     Closely  allied  to  this  is 
Treacle — a  viscid,  dark-brown,  uncrystallizable  syrup,  which  drains  from  the  moul«!<  in 
which  refined  sugar  concretes.     These  liquids  result  from  an  alteration  effected  in  crys- 
tallizable  sugar,  and  do  not  exist  in  the  sugar  cane.     Both  of  them  contain  free  aciil. 

7.  Burnt  Sugar. — When  sufficiently  heated,  sugar  becomes  brown,  evolves  a  remark- 
able odor,  loses  its  sweet  taste,  and  acquires  bitterness :  in  this  state  it  is  called   C 

or  Burnt  Sugar,  and  is  sold,  when  dissolved  in  water,  as  a  coloring  matter,  under  the 
name  of  Essentia  Bina  or  Browning.  It  is  used  to  color  soups  and  sauces.  The  high- 
colored  brandies  and  dark  brown  sherries  are  said  sometimes  to  owe  part  of  their  color 
to  this  liquor.  The  brewer,  it  is  reported,  occasionally  makes  use  of  it  to  color  his  beer. 

8.  Hard  Confectionery. — Sugar  constitutes  the  base  of  an  almost  innumerable  variety 
of  hard  confectionery,  sold  under  the  names  of  Lozenges,  Brilliants,  Pipe,  Rock,  Cow///*, 
Nonpareils,  &c.     Besides  sugar,  these  preparations  contain  some  flavoring  ingredient, 
often  flour  or  gum,  to  give  them  cohesiveness,  and  frequently  coloring  matter.*     Cara- 
way fruits,  almonds,  and  pine  seeds,  constitute  the  nuclei  of  some  of  these  preparations. 

9.  Liquorice  Sugar. — An  aqueous  extract  of  the  root  of  liquorice  (Glycyrrhiza}  is  ex- 
tensively imported  under  the  names  of  Liquorice  J'dce,  or,  according  to  the  countries 
from  whence  it  is  brought,  of  Spanish  or  Italian  Juice.     Solazzi  Juice  is  most  esteemed. 
The  Spanish  extract  is  prepared  in  Catalonia,  from  the  common  liquorice  plant,  (Glycyr- 
rhiza  glabra,')  but  the  Italian  extract,  obtained  in  Calabria,  is  procured  from  G.  echinata. 
Extract  of  liquorice  is  imported  in  cylindrical  or  flattened  rolls,  of  five  or  six  inches  long, 
and  about  one  inch  in   diameter,  enveloped  in  bay-leaves.     Its  principal  constituent  is 

*  Cochineal  and  indigo,  employed  to  color  respectively  red  and  blue,  are  harmless.  But,  in  order  to 
meet  the  demands  of  their  customers,  confectioners  are  necessitated  to  use  other  coloring  ingredients,  of 
a  less  innocent  nature,  to  give  several  admired  tints  (yellow  and  green)  to  their  goods. 


STARCH. 


59 


Glycyrrhizin,  or  Liquorice  Sugar,  mixed  with  some  foreign  matters.  If  the  foreign  ex- 
tract be  dissolved  in  water,  arid  the  solution  filtered  and  evaporated,  we  obtain  Refined 
Liquorice ;  but  the  Pipe  Refined  Liquorice  of  the  shops  is  a  very  adulterated  article.  The 
Pontefract  Lozenges  are  made  of  refined  liquorice,  and  are  much  esteemed.  The  Liquo- 
rice Lozenges  are  officinal  in  the  Edinburgh  Pharmacopoeia,  and  are  directed  to  be  pre- 
pared of  extract  of  liquorice,  gum,  and  sugar.  There  is  also  another  liquorice  lozenge 
sold  in  the  shops,  under  the  name  of  Quintessence  of  Liquorice.  Extract  of  liquorice  is 
used  as  a  flavoring  ingredient.  Slowly  dissolved  in  the  mouth,  it  is  taken  to  appease 
tickling  cough,  and  to  allay  irritation  of  the  fauces. 

10.  Preserves,  <^c. — In  addition  to  its  dietetical  and  condimentary  uses,  sugar  is  exten- 
sively employed,  in  domestic  economy,  as  an  antiseptic ;  that  is,  to  prevent  the  decompo- 
sition or  putrefaction  of  organic  substances.  A  variety  of  fruits,  as  well  as  some  roots, 
stems,  and  even  leaves,  are  in  this  way  preserved,  some  in  the  moist  state,  (as  Fruits  in 
Syrup,  and  Preserved  Ginger,)  others  in  the  dry  state,  (as  Candied  Angelica,  Candied  Cit- 
ron, Orange,  and  Lemon  Peels,  and  Crystallized  Fruits.)  In  these  cases  sugar  acts  by 
excluding  air,  or  by  absorbing  moisture,  or  in  both  of  these  ways.  In  some'instances,  per- 
haps, its  efficacy  may  be  of  another  kind,  as  when  it  promotes  the  solidification  of  vege- 
table jelly.  (See  The  Pectinaceous  Alimentary  Principle.)  "  Latterly,"  says  Berzelius, 
(Traite  de  Chimie,  t.  v.,  p.  243,)  "sugar  has  begun  to  be  more  generally  employed  than 
formerly  for  the  preservation  of  meat,  in  consequence  of  a  much  smaller  quantity  of  it 
being  required  for  preventing  putrefaction,  than  of  salt,  while  it  renders  the  meat  neither 
less  savory  nor  less  nutritive.  Fish,  when  gutted,  may  be  equally  well  preserved  by 
spreading  powdered  sugar  inside  them." 

4.    THE  AMYLACEOUS  ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLE. 

(Farinaceous  or  Starchy  Substances.) 

This  principle  is  peculiar  to  plants,  from  which  it  is  obtained  under  the  various  names 
of  Amylum,*  Starch,  Fecula,  or  Farinaceous  Matter.  It  is  very  generally  distributed  in  the 
vegetable  kingdom,  existing  in  both  cryptogamic  and  flowering  (endogenous  and  exoge- 
nous) plants,  and  being  found  in  thallus,  roots,  stems,  tubercles,  fruits,  and  seeds. 

The  following  table  gives  an  approximative  idea  of  the  quantity  of  starch  contained  in 
different  parts  of  plants. 

QUANTITY  OF  STARCH  IN  100  PARTS  OF  THE  FOLLOWING  VEGETABLE  ORGANS. 


1.  Thallus  Iceland  Moss 

("Janipha  Manihot  or  Tapioca  plant  (var. 

2    Roots  \  Pitto  (v^  green) 

s  Ipomaea  Batatas  . 

Ditto  (var.  red)  . 
Potatoe  (var.  kidney)  . 
Ditto  (var.  red)  .  . 
Ditto  (var.  Shaw)  '. 
3.  Tubercles.  •{  Ditto  (var.  Champion) . 
Ditto  (var.  Chair  rouge) 
Ditto  (var.  L'Orpheline 
Ditto  (var.  Captain  Hart) 


red) 


Starch. 
44-6t 
135 
11-5 

7-5 
133 

9-1J 
15-0$ 
18-811 
15-91T 
12-2** 
24-4tt 
15 


Authority. 

Berzelius. 

De  Candolle. 

Ditto. 

Ricord. 

O.  Henry. 

Einhof. 

Ditto. 

Vauquelin. 

Ditto. 

Ditto. 

Ditto. 

Skrimshire. 


The  Greeks  called  it  «>vXov  (from  a  negative,  and  /nJAof  a  milh  because  it  was  not  prepared  by 
grinding  in  a  mill.    (See  Pliny,  Hist.  Nat.  lib.  xviii.  cap.  17.  ed.  Valp.) 

t  Besides  36-2  parts  of  amylaceous  fibre.  t  In  addition  to  8-8  parts  of  amylaceous  fibre 

§  Also  7-0  parts  of  amylaceous  fibre.  II  In  addition  to  5-1  parts  of  amylaceous  fibre 

T  Besides  4-9  parts  of  amylaceous  fibre.  **  And  10-2  parts  of  amylaceous  fibre. 

•M  Also  G-2  parts  of  amylaceous  fibre. 


60 


ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLES. 


Starch. 

Authority. 

Maranta  arundinacea  or  Arrow-root  plant  12-5 

De  Candolle. 

Ditto     ....                         .        26-0 

Senzon. 

Canna  coccinea   .        .                                  12-5 

De  Candolle. 

Ditto 

4.  Rhizomes.      • 

Ginger          13-0 

Ditto. 

Ditto     

19-75 

Bucholz. 

Turmeric 

260 

De  Candolle. 

Dioscorea  saliva,  or  the  Yam 

12-5 

Ditto. 

Ditto    .                .... 

22-66 

Siiersen. 

5.  Pericarps 

'Arlocarpus  incisa,  or  Breadfruit 
integrifolia,  or  Jak-fruit 

32 
6-2 

De  Candolle.* 

Ditto. 

'Barley-meal         .... 

67-18 

Einhof. 

Oatmeal       

5'J-O 

Vogel. 

Wheat-flour         .... 

56-5  to  72 

Vauquelin. 

Wheat-bread        .... 

535 

Vogel. 

Rye  meal     

61-07 

Einhof. 

6.  Seeds. 

Maizet         

80-92 

Biz.o. 

Rice  (Piedmont) 

82-8 

Braconnot. 

Ditto  (Carolina)    .... 

85-07 

Ditto. 

Peas     

32-45 

Einhof. 

(•anlen  Bean  (Victa  Faba)   . 

31-17 

Ditto. 

.Kidney  Bean  (Phaseolus  vulgara) 

35  <Ji 

Ditto. 

The  amylaceous  substances  are  organized.  Examined  by  a  microscope  they  are  seen 
to  consist  of  small  grains,  which  are  usually  rounded,  or  elliptical,  flask-shaped,  or 
mullar-shaped,  or  polyhedral.  The  polyhedral  form  probably  arises  from  the  mutual 
compression  of  numerous  grains  in  the  same  or  neighboring  cells.  On  some  part  of  the 
surface  of  each  grain  is  a  circular  spot,  called  the  hilum :  very  rarely,  two  or  even  three 
of  these  spots  are  observed  on  the  same  grain.  According  to  Raspail,  the  hilum  is  the 
spot  where  the  starch-grain  was  adherent  to  the  vegetable  cell  in  which  these  grains  are 
contained.  The  hilum  usually  cracks  in  a  linear  or  stellate  manner.  Starch-grains  1  ave 
a  laminated  texture :  that  is,  they  consist  of  a  series  of  concentric  layers  or  membranes, 
the  outermost  of  which  is  the  thickest  or  firmest  To  these  layers  is  owing  the  appear- 
ance of  concentric  rings  or  rugae  which  starch-grains  present  on  their  surface,  and  which 
are  most  evident  in  grains  of  Tous  les  Mois  and  of  Potato  Starch. 

*  Physiologic  Vegetate,  vol.  i.  See  also  some  experiments  on  the  quantity  of  starch  in  various  plants 
by  Dr.  Clark,  in  the  Medical  Facts  and  Observations,  vol.  vii.  1797. 

t  It  will  be  seen  from  the  above  table  that  while  kidney  potatoes,  from  which  starch  is  usually  pre- 
pared, yield  but  9-1  per  cent,  of  starch,  Maize,  or  Indian  corn,  yields  80-92.  Advantage  has  lately  been 
taken  of  this  fact,  in  the  establishment  of  manufactories,  in  this  country,  for  the  production  of  starch 
from  this  grain. — L. 


STARCH. 


61 


.MICROSCOPIC  APPEARANCE  OF  STARCH  GRAINS. 
(Drawn  to  one  scale.) 


Grains  of  Tons  les  Mois  or  Canna  Starch.  . 

c,  d,  Particles  each  having:  two  hila. 
e,f,ff,  Particles  broken  by  pressure  and  water; 
the  internal  matter  remains  solid  (Payen). 


Grains  of  West-Indian  Arrow-Root. 


Grains  of  Sago  Meal. 


a 


Entire  Grains  of  Tapioca. 


Grains  of  Tahiti  Arrow  Root, 
or  Otaheite  Salep. 


Grains  of  East  Indian  A  rrow-Root.       Grains  of  Wheat  Starch. 

a>  A  particle  seen  edgeways. 


Grains  of 

Portland  Arrow- 

Root. 


ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLES. 


The  organic  principle  of  which  starch-grair.  s  are  con.  posed  is  called  amidon  or  amylon. 
This  substance  consists  of  carbon  and  water,  (or  its  elements.) 


COMPOSITION  OF  STARCH. 


Carbon. 

Water. 

Authority. 

Fine  Wheat  Starch 
Ditto,  dried  at  212°         .... 
Ditto,  highly  dried  at  350°      . 

37-5 
42-8 
44-0 
36-4 

625 
57-2 
56-0 
63-6 

}Frout. 

Ditto,  dried  at  212°         .... 
Ditto,  highly  dried  at  212°      . 

42-8 
44-4 

57-2 
55-6 

The  formula  which  agrees  with  Prout's  third  analysis  of  Arrow-root  is  Cia  -j-  Aqua10. 

The  starchy  matter  (called  Lichenin  or  Feculoid)  of  Iceland  Moss  consists,  according 
to  Guerin-Varry,  of  f10  II"  O10.  If  the  analysis  be  correct,  this  variety  of  starch  contains 
excess  of  hydrogen. 

To  render  amylaceous  matter  digestible,  it  requires  to  be  cooked  in  order  to  break  or 
split  the  grains  ;*  for,  of  the  different  lamina?  of  which  each  grain  consists,  the  outer  ones 
are  the  most  cohesive,  and  present  the  greatest  resistance  to  the  digestive  power  of  the 
stomach,  while  the  internal  ones  are  the  least  so.  Hencr  farinaceous  substances  nrc 
boiled  in  milk  or  water,— or  they  are  panified  with  gluten,  by  which  the  grains  are  com- 
pletely broken  up— or  they  are  made  into  puddings  and  tarts. 

When  cooked,  it  is  usually  regarded  as  a  mild,  slightly  nutritious,  easily  digestible  arti- 
cle of  food.  Directly  or  indirectly,  observes  Dr.  Prout,f  "it  forms  a  constituent  of  ihe 
food  of  most  of  the  higher  animals,  as  well  as  of  man.  It  differ?,  therefore,  from  gugjr., 
in  being  a  necessary  article  of  food,  without  which  animals  could  not  exist;  whili-  suirar  is 
not  Hence  a  much  larger  quantity  of  amylaceous  matter  than  of  sugar  can  be  taken  ; 
and  what  is  a  still  more  decisive  fact,  the  use  of  this  larger  quantity  of  amylaceous  matter 
may  be  persisted  in  for  an  unlimited  period,  which,  it  appears,  is  not  the  case  with  a  large 
portion  of  sugar." 

By  digestion,  starch  becomes  converted  into  gum  and  sugar  ;  the  latter  probably  be- 
comes absorbed.  This  conversion  is  effected,  according  to  Leuchs,  by  the  action  of  the 
saliva.J 


*  "  Fecula,"  says  Rar-pail,  (Chim.  Organique,)  "  is  not  actually  nutritive  to  man  until  it  has  been 
boiled  [or  otherwise  cooked].  The  heat  of  the  stomach  is  not  sufficient  to  burst  all  the  grains  of  the 
feculent  mass  which  is  subjected  to  ihe  rapid  action  of  this  organ.  The  stomach  of  graminivorous 
animals  and  birds  seems  to  possess,  in  this  respect,  a  particular  power ;  for  they  use  feculent  su! 
as  food  in  a  raw  state.  Nevertheless,  recent  experiments  prove  the  advantage  that  result*  from  boil- 
ing the  potatoes  and  partially  fermenting  the  farina  which  are  given  them  for  food.  At  all  events,  it  is 
certain,  that  bruised  grain  is  much  more  nutritive  for  thorn  than  that  which  is  entire  ;  for  a  large  pro- 
portion of  the  latter  passes  through  the  intestines  perfectly  unaflected  as  when  it  was  swallou  • 

Braconnot  (Journ.  de  Chim.  Med.  t.  iii.  2*  Ser.  p.  (28 — 130)  found  unbroken  starch  grains  in  the 
excrement  of  a  slug :  the  temperature  of  this  cold-blooded  mollusk  being  insufficient  to,  crack  the 
grains.  Unbroken  grains,  he  states,  are  also  found  r»  the  excrements  of  hot-blooded  animals  fed  on 
raw  potatoes.  Hence,  he  adds,  the  potatoes  employed  for  feeding  cattle  should  be  boiled  ;  s-ir.ce,  inde- 
pendently of  the  accidents  which  may  arise  from  the  use  of  them  in  the  raw  slate,  a  considerable 
quan  ity  of  alimentary  matter  is  lost  by  the  employment  of  these  tubercles  in  the  jmboiled  state. 

t  On  the  Nature  a-xl  Treatment  of  Stomach  and  Urinary  Diseases,  p.  10.     Lond.  1840. 

t  Muller's  Physiology,  by  Baly,  vol.  i.  p  548. 


STARCH.  63 


The  exterior  laminse  of  the  starch-grain  are  thicker,  more  cohesive,  and  less  readily 
digested,  than  the  inner  ones.  Leeuwenhoek*  observed  that  the  excrements  of  birds  fed 
on  the  cereal  grains  contained  a  considerable  quantity  of  these  exterior  laminte,  but  with- 
out the  interior  matter ;  and  from  this  he  inferred  that  the  latter  only  was  the  nutritive 
p>rtion  of  starch. 

According  to  Liebig,  (see  ante,  p.  16,)  starch  being  a  non-nitrogenized  food,t  is  an  ele 
ment  of  respiration,  and  is  incapable  of  transformation  into  blood  or  organized  tissues 
He,  therefore,  regards  it  as  an  element  of  respiration,  and  as  contributing  to  the  formation 
of  fat,  (see  ante,  p.  26.)  "Children  fed  upon  arrow-root,  salep,  or  indeed  any  kind  of 
amylaceous  food,  which  does  not  contain  ingredients  fitted  for  the  formation  of  bones  and 
muscles,  become  fat,  and  acquire  much  embonpoint ;  their  limbs  appear  full,  but  they  dr 
not  acquire  strength,  nor  are  their  organs  properly  developed."! 

The  times  required  for  the  digestion  of  some  amylaceous  matters,  are,  according  to 
Dr.  Beaumont,§  as  follows  : — 

DIGESTIBILITY  OF  AMYLACEOUS  MATTER, 

Time  required  for  Stomachal  Digestion. 

Sago  boiled 1  hour. 

Tapioca  boiled  2  hours. 

It  is  doubtful  whether  tapioca  is  uniformly  more  difficult  of  digestion  than  sago. 

Farinaceous  food  is,  perhaps,  the  least  irritating  of  all  kinds  of  aliments.  It  is,  there- 
fore, well  adapted  for  the  use  of  persons  affected  with  morbidly  sensible  conditions  of  the 
primae  vise.  It  will  sometimes  remain  on  the  stomach  when  every  other  kind  of  nutri- 
ment is  immediately  rejected.  Being  totally  devoid  of  all  stimulating  properties,  it  is  a 
useful  and  valuable  article  of  food  in  febrile  and  inflammatory  diseases. 

The  following  are  the  varieties  of  amylaceous  matter  in  common  use  for  dietetical  pur- 
poses : — 

1.  Sago. — This  is  obtained  from  the  interior  tissue  (commonly  termed  medulla  or  pith) 
of  the  stems  of  various  species  of  palms,  especially  those  of  the  genera  Sagus  and  Saguerus. 
It  is  manufactured  in  the  Moluccas,  and  is  imported  into  this  country  from  Singapore.  Three 
ki  ids  of  it  are  met  with — namely,  Sago-meal,  Pearl  Sago,  and  Common  Sago.  Sago- 
meal  (called  also  Sago-flour  or  Sago-powder)  is  a  whitish  powder,  which  is  now,  or  very 
recently  was,  extensively  used  in  the  manufacture  of  a  saccharine  substance,  called  Sago- 
sugar,  (see  p.  57.)  Pearl-sago  consists  of  small  pinkish  or  yellowish  grains,  about  the 
si<ze  of  a  pin's  head.  It  is  the  kind  in  general  use  for  domestic  purposes.  Common  or 
Brown  Sago  occurs  in  grains  varying  in  size  from  that  of  grains  of  pearl-barley  to  that 
of  peas.  Its  color  is  brownish  white  ;  each  grain  being  whitish  on  one  part  of  its  surface, 
and  brownish  on  another.  Of  these  three  varieties  of  sago,  one  only,  namely,  pearl- 
sago,  svtfeLs  up  in  cold  water,  and  yields  an  infusion  which  becomes  blue  on  the  addition 
of  iodine.  This  arises  from  its  having  been  subjected  to  heat  in  the  process  of  manufac- 

*  Quotee  by  Guibourt,  (Hist.  Abreg.  des  Drogues  simples,  t.  ii.  p.  447.    3me  ed.) 

•f  Jacque1- f.in  (Ann.  de  Chim.  et  de  Physique,  t.  Ixxi  i.  p.  167 — 207)  states,  that  both  starch  and  its 
granules  contain  from  0'24  to  0'31  per  cent,  of  nitrogen. 

|  Liebig.  Chemistry  in  its  Application  to  Agriculture  and  Physiology,  p.  128-9,  foot  note,  2d  ed.  1842. 
Very  recently,  Dumas  (Annals  of  Chemistry,  Nov.  11, 1842)  has  denied  thafcanimals  have  the  power  of 
forming  fat ;  and  he  asserts  that  the  fat  of  animals  is  derived  immediately  from  the  fatty  substances 
contained  in  the  food  on  which  the  animals  feed. 

§  Experiments  and  Observations  on  the  Gastric  Juice  and,  the  Physiology  of  Digestion.  By  W.  Beou- 
mont,  M.D.  Reprinted  from  the  Platt^burg  edition,  with  notes  by  Dr.  Combe.  Edinb.  1838 


64  ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLES. 

taring  it,  whereby  its  grains  have  become  ruptured.  All  the  kinds  of  sago  contain  color- 
ing matter,  which  renders  them  inferior  to  those  amylaceous  substances  (ex.  West  Indian 
arrow-root  and  tapioca)  which  are  perfectly  white.  By  bleaching,  however,  pearl-sago 
may  be  rendered  perfectly  white.  Bleached  Pearl-sago  resembles  an  imitation  sago  manu- 
factured in  France  from  potato-starch.  The  microscope  readily  distinguishes  Potato-sago 
from  the  genuine  eago. 

Sago  is  nutritive,  and  easy  of  digestion.  It  is  an  important  article  of  food  in  some 
parts  of  the  East.  "  The  Malay  sago-palm,"  says  Dr.  Roxburgh,  M  is  the  tree  the  p:th  of 
which  is  the  staff  of  life  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  Moluccas."  In  England,  Sago  pud- 
dings (made  like  tapioca  puddings)  are  occasionally  brought  to  the  table.  But  the  prin- 
cipal use  of  sago  is  to  yield  a  light,  nutritious,  easily  digestible,  and  non-irritating  article 
of  food  for  the  invalid,  in  febrile  and  inflammatory  cases.  Sago  milk  is  prepared  by 
soaking  an  ounce  of  sago  in  a  pint  of  cold  water  for  an  hour,  pouring  off  this  water,  and 
adding  a  pint  and  a  half  of  good  milk,  and  boiling  slowly  until  the  sago  is  well  incorpo- 
rated with  the  milk,  (Dr.  A.  T.  Thomson.)*  Sugar,  an  aromatic,  (as  nutmeg,)  and  a  little 
white  wine,  are  occasionally  added  for  flavoring,  when  their  use  is  not  contraindicated. 
In  cases  where  milk  is  apt  to  disagree  with  the  patient,  Sago  gruel  (Sago  mucilage)  may 
be  substituted  for  sago  milk.  It  is  prepared  by  macerating  an  ounce  (or  a  table-spoonful) 
of  sago  in  a  pint  of  water,  on  the  hob  or  hot-plate,  for  two  hours,  then  boiling  for  fifteen 
minutes,  assiduously  stirring  during  the  boiling,  (Dr.  A.  T.  Thomson.)  Sugar,  lemon 
juice,  an  aromatic,  (as  nutmeg  or  ginger,)  and  white  wine,  are  occasionally  permitted  for 
flavoring.  Sago  gruel  containing  all  these  ingredients  is  called,  by  Dr.  A.  T.  Thomson, 
Sago  posset. 

Dr.  Christison  states  that  sago  has  come  into  use,  in  England,  for  feeding  domestic 
animals,  and  especially  the  horse. 

2.  Tapioca. — The  tuberous  root  of  the  poisonous  plant  Janipha  Manihot  yields  a  large 
quantity  of  amylaceous  matter,  which  is  imported  into  England  from  the  Brazils. 
When  it  comes  over  in  the  form  of  a  white  powder  it  is  called  Brazilian  Arrow-root, 
Tapioca-meal,  Mandiocca,  Moustache  or  Cipipa.  But  it  is  usually  met  with  in  the  shops 
in  the  form  of  irregular  small  lumps,  and  in  this  state  is  called  Tapioca.  It  has  acquired 
this  form  jn  consequence  of  having  been  dried  on  hot  plates.  The  heat  used  in  its  prep- 
aration breaks  the  starch  globules,  and  renders  them  partially  soluble  in  cold  water. 
Hence  an  infusion  of  tapioca  in  cold  water  yields,  after  filtration,  a  blue  color  with  iodine. 
In  boiling  water,  tapioca  becomes  tremulous,  gelatUiiform,  transparent,  and  viscous. 

In  its  nutritious  qualities  tapioca  agrees  with  sago,  than  which  it  is  much  purer,  being 
free  from  coloring  matter.  It  also  yields  a  more  consistent  jelly  than  some  other  kinds  of 
stLrch.  It  is  principally  employed  as  an  agreeable  light  nourishment  for  invalids,  as  well 
as  for  children.  "  No  amylaceous  substance,"  says  Dr.  Christison,  "  is  so  much  relished 
by  infants  about  the  time  of  weaning ;  and  in  them  it  is  less  apt  to  become  sour  during 
digestion,  than  any  other  farinaceous  food,  even  arrow-root  not  excepted."  Tapioca  gruel 
(Tapioca  mucilage)  and  Tapioca  milk  are  made  in  the  same  way  as  sago  gruel  and  sago 
milk  ;  but  tapioca,  being  more  soluble  than  sago,  requires  only  half  the  time  for  its  mace- 
ration and  boiling,  (Dr.  A.  T.  Thomson.)  Tapioca  pudding  for  invalids  is  prepared  by 
beating  the  yolks  of  two  eggs,  and  half  an  ounce  of  sugar,  together,  and  stirring  the  mix- 
ture into  a  pint  of  tapioca  milk. 

Cassava-bread  or  Casfada-bread  is  made  thus  :  the  roots  of  the  Janipha  Manihot  are 
washed  and  scraped  clean  ;  then  grated  into  a  tub  or  trough,  and  afterwards  g'.ibjected  to 

Lond.  1S11. 


STARCH.  65 


pressure  in  a  hair  bag.  It  is  then  dried,  and  constitutes  Cassava  powder,  or  Farine  de 
Manioc.  When  made  into  cakes  and  dried  or  baked,  it  forms  Cassava  bread,  used  as  a 
wholesome  bread  in  Brazil,  Guiana,  Jamaica,  &c. 

3.  Arrow-root ;  West  Indian  Arrow-root.     This  is  a  very  pure  white  amylaceous  pow- 
der, obtained  from  the  roots  (tubers)   of  the  Maranta  arundinacea.     It  is  brought  from 
most  of  the  West  India  Islands,  but  that  from  Bermuda  (Bermuda  Arrow-roof)  is   most 
esteemed.     It  makes  a  tolerably  strong  jelly, — stronger  than  that  from  wheat-starch, — 
and  is  free  from    coloring  matter,  and  also  from  any  unpleasant  flavor  and  odor.     On 
these  accounts  it  is  greatly  in  request.     Dr.  Prout  regards  it  as  a  low  variety  of  starch, 
analogous  to  the  low  sugar  of  honey ;  while  wheat-starch  he  considers  to  be  the  most 
perfect  form  of  starch,  analogous  to  sugar  candy.     It  is  employed  as  a  nutritious,  easily 
digested,  agreeable,  non-irritating  diet  for  invalids  and  infants.     Arrow-root  pudding  is 
prepared  like  tapioca   pudding,  (see  p.  64.)     Arrow-root  gruel  and  Arrow-root  milk  are 
made  like  the  corresponding  preparations  of  sago.     Arrow-root  Blanc-mange  (Arrow-root 
jelly)   contains  three  times  as  much  arrow-root  as  the  arrow-root  gruel.     A  moderate 
quantity  of  milk  being  added,  the  whole  is  boiled  down  to  a  proper  consistence,  poured 
into  a  shape  to  cool  and  set ;  and  afterwards  turned  out,  (Dr.  A.  T.  Thomson.) 

4.  Tous-les-Mois ;  Canna  Starch. — Within  the  last  few  years  considerable  quantities  of 
an  amylaceous  matter  have  been  imported  from  St.  Kitt's,  under  the  name  of  Tous-les- 
mois,  or  Starch  of  the  Canna  coccinea.     It  is  said  to  be  prepared  by  a  tedious  and  trouble- 
some process  from  the  rhizome  of  the  above-mentioned  species  of  Canna  ;  but  it  is  very 
doubtful  whether  it  really  be  obtained  from  the  Canna   coccinea  of  botanists.     Its  grains 
are  larger  than  those  of  any  other  starch  ;  and  indeed  are  almost  visible  to  the  naked  eye. 
Their  tegument,  according  to  Guibourt,  is  very  thin.     It  is  a  very  excellent  kind  of  starch, 
equal  perhaps  to  any,  and  superior  to  several,  of  the  amylaceous  matters  in  ordinary  use. 
It  yields  a  fine  jelly,  and  is  devoid  of  coloring  matter  and  of  any  disagreeable  flavor  or 
odor.     It  is  very  soluble,  and  very  readily  digested.     It  is  used  for  invalids  and  infants  ; 
and  may  be  administered  in  the  same  forms  as  Arrow-root. 

5.  Potato    Starch. — This  kind  of  amylaceous  matter  is   imported  '  from    France    and 
Guernsey,    and   is  also    manufactured    in  England.     It    is  frequently  sold  under    the 
names  of  Potato-flour  or  English  Arrow-root.     Its  grains  are  somewhat  smaller  than  those 
of  Tous-les-mois.     An  imitation  sago  (Potato-sago)  is  made  of  it,  as  I  have  already  men- 
tioned,  (see  p.  64;)  and  sometimes,  it  is  stated,  potato-starch  is  substituted  for  arrow- 
root.    It  is  most  extensively    consumed  in  the  manufacture  of  Potato-sugar,  (see  p.  57.) 
In  its  general  dietetical  properties,  potato-starch  agrees  very  much  with  the  other  amyla- 
ceous substances  above  mentioned.     It  does  not,  however,  yield  so  firm  a  jelly  ;  and,  ac- 
cording to  Dr.  Christison,  is  more  apt  to  cause  acidity,  especially  in  infants,  than  arrow- 
root.    It  is  used  by  the  cook  in  the  preparation  of  souffles,  and  sometimes,  as  a  substitute 
for  wheat-flour,  for  thickening  gravies,  sauces,  &c.,  on  account  of  its  being  both  cheap 
and  tasteless. 

6.  Tahiti  Arrow-root ;  Otaheite  Salep ;  Arrow-root  prepared  by  the  Native  Converts  at 
the  Missionary  Stations  in  the  South  Sea  Islands.— This  is  a  white  amylaceous  powder 
obtained  at  Tahiti  (Otaheite)  from  the   Tacca  pinnatifida.     It  has  been  introduced  as  a 
substitute  for  the  West  Indian  arrow-root,  on  the  ground  of  its  purity,  superior  quality, 
and  lower  price ;  (Is.  8d.  per  Ib. ;)  but  the  specimens  which  I  have  met  with  had  a  musty 
odor. 

7.  East  Indian  Arrow-root. — Under  this  name  two  kinds  of  an  amylaceous  powder  are 
imported  from  Calcutta  ;  one  white,  the  other  pale  buff-colored.     To  the  microscope  both 
kinds  present  the  same  appearance,  from  which  jt  is  probable  that  they  are  obtained  from 


ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLES. 


the  same  or  some  neighboring  plant,  but  with  unequal  degrees  of  care.  As  the  grains 
very  much  resemble  in  form  those  obtained  from  the  rhizomes  of  ginger  and  tuimeric, 
there  can  be  but  little  doubt  that  this  fecula  is  procured  from  some  scitamineous  plant. 
Now,  it  appears  from  the  statements  of  Drs.  Roxburgh  and  Ainslie,  that  an  amylaceous 
matter  called  Tickor  or  Tikhur*  is  obtained  in  India  from  the  tuberous  roots  of  three 
species  of  Curcuma,  viz.,  C.  angustifolia,  C.  rubescens,  and  C.  leucorrhiza.  This  is  iden- 
tical, probably,  with  our  East  Indian  Arrow-root.  In  Travancore  it  forms  a  large  part  of 
the  diet  of  the  inhabitants.  It  is  employed  by  Europeans  as  a  substitute  for  the  West 
Indian  arrow-root. 

9.  Portland  Arrow-root ;  Portland  Sago. — This  is  a  white  amylaceous  powder  obtained 
in  the  island  of  Portland,  from  the  underground  tubers  of  Arum  maculalum,  or  Wake 
Robin,  and  used  as  a  substitute  for  West  Indian  arrow-root 

9.  Rice  Starch. — Mr.  O.  Jones  has  recently  taken  out  a  patent  for  the  preparation  of 
starch  from  rice  by  means  of  a  weak  solution  of  caustic  alkali.     In  another  patent  an  al- 
kaline salt  is  substituted  for  the  caustic  alkali. 

10.  Lichenin  or  Feculoid. — This  is  the  name  applied  to  the  starchy  matter  found  in  the 
thallus  of  the  foliaceous  lichens.     As,  however,  it  is  not  sold  in  the  separate  state,  it  will 
be  described  hereafter,  (sue  Iceland  Moss,  or  Cetraria  islandica.} 

I  have  not  included  the  substance  called  Salep\  among  the  amylaceous  substance?, 
though  it  is  closely  allied  to  them.  It  is  the  prepared  and  dried  tuberous  or  palmate 
roots  of  several  orchideous  plants,  and  is  sometimes  sold  in  the  state  of  powder.  Indige- 
nous Salep  is  procured  from  Orchis  mascula,  O.  latifolia,  and  other  native  plants  of  this 
order.  It  has  been  recommended  by  Dr.  Thomas  Percival  as  furnishing  a  cheap,  whole- 
some, and  most  nutritious  article  of  diet;  and  he  adds  that  it  "is  said  to  contain  the 
greatest  quantity  of  vegetable  nourishment  in  the  smallest  bulk."  Oriental  Sakp  is  im- 
ported from  India,  in  this  form  of  ovate  tubers.  When  ground  to  powder,  these  consti- 
tute the  salep  powder  sold  at  Butler's,  in  Covent  Garden  Market  Dr.  Royle  states  that 
the  salep  of  Cachmere  is  obtained  from  a  species  of  Euhphia.\ 

5.  THE  LIGNEOUS  ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLE. 

\  . 

(Lignine ;  Woody  Fibre.) 

The  substance  commonly  called  lignine  constitutes  the  basis  of  all  vegetable  tissues, 
(woody  fibre,  vessels,  ducts,  and  cellular  tissue.)  It  is  obtained  by  submitting  vegetables 
to  the  successive  action  of  ether,  alcohol,  water,  diluted  acids,  and  diluted  alkalies,  to 
extract  all  the  matters  soluble  in  these  liquids.  Lignine,  therefore,  is  insoluble  in  all  these 
solvents. 

QUANTITY  OF  LIGNINE  CONTAINED  IN  100  PARTS  OF  THE  FOLLOWING 
ALIMENTARY  SUBSTANCES 

Lignine  Authority. 

Rice .4-8  Braconnot. 

Barley 18-75  (husk)  Kinhof. 

Oats 3t      (bran)  Vogel. 

*  Dr.  Royle  (Illustrations  of  Die  Botany,  4*c  ,  of  the  Himalayan  Mountains,  p.  359)  says  that  an  ex 
;ellent  starch,  called  Tikhur.  is  made  at  Patna  and  Boglipore  from  the  tubers  of  Batatas  edulis. 

t  Salep  is  in  small,  oval,  irregular  masses,  hard,  horny,  semi-transparent,  of  a  yellowish  color,  a  fee- 
ble odor,  and  a  mild  mucilaginous  taste.  In  composition  and  relation  to  water,  it  is  closely  allied  to 
tragacanth  gum,  consisting  of  a  substance  insoluble,  but  swelling  up  in  cold  water,  (bassorin,)  of  anot'wr 
in  much  smaller  proportion,  soluble  in  cola  water,  and  of  minute  quantities  of  saline  matter. — L. 

t  Appendix,  M. 


LIGNINE.                                                         57    j 

Lignine.                                     Authority. 

Rye      ... 

24-2    (husk)                          Einhof. 

Apricots  (ripe) 

1-86                                     Berard. 

Green  Gages  (ripe) 
Peaches  (ripe) 

Ml                                     Ditto. 
1-21                                     Ditto. 

Gooseberries  (ripe) 

8-01                                     Ditto. 

Cherries  (ripe) 

1-12                                     Ditto. 

Pears  (ripe)    . 

2-19                                     Ditto. 

Sweet  Almonds     . 

9-0     (and  seed  coats)         Boullay. 

Peas 

21-83  (amylaceous  fibre)     Einhof. 

Garden  Bean  (Vicia  Fabd) 
Kidney  Bean  (Phaseolus  vulgaris) 
Potatoes 
Cocoa-nut  kernel 

25-94  (ditto  &  membrane)  Ditto. 
18-57            (ditto)                Ditto. 
4'  3  to  10-5    (amylaceous  fibre)     Vauquelin. 
.      14-95                                     Bizio. 

The  substance  called  by  Einhof  amylaceous  fibre  is  probably  woody  fibre,  with  some 

intermixed  amylaceous  matter. 

According  to  t)r.  Prout's  experiments, 

the  composition  of  lignine  is  probably  similar  in 

all  plants.* 
rn\Tpnsrr 

ION    fVR1   TTOIVTATR 

Lignine  from  Box 
Ditto        ditto,  dried  . 
Ditto  from  Willow     . 
Ditto        ditto,  dried  . 


Carbon. 

42-7 

50-0 

42-6 

49-8 


Water. 
57-3 
50-0 
57-4 
50-2 


The  formula  for  lignine  which  agrees  with  these  analyses  is  C12  +  Aqua8  or  C12  H8  Os. 

According  to  Payen,f  the  substance  called  lignine  consists  of  two  organic  principles. 
One  of  these  is  the  true  or  primitive  tissue  of  the  wood,  or,  in  other  words,  the  mem- 
brane or  fibre  of  which  the  vegetable  tissues  are  built  up ;  this  he  calls  cellulose.  It  is 
isomefic  with  starch,  and,  therefore,  consists  of  C1*  H10  O10.  The  other,  called  pure  lig- 
nine, is  a  secretion,  and  fills  the  cells.  Its  composition  is  C35  H24  Oso. 

Though  I  have  placed  ligneous  matter  among  the  alimentary  principles,  yet  I  confess  I 
am  by  no  means  satisfied  that  it  is  capable  of  yielding  nutriment  to  man.  Dr.  Prout,^ 
whose  example  I  have  followed  in  calling  it  an  alimentary  principle,  observes  that  it  forms 
the  appropriate  food  of  numerous  insects  and  of  some  of  the  lower  animals,  but  of  few 
of  the  higher  classes  of  animals.  The  reason  of  this  is  probably  to  be  sought  for  in  their 
not  being  furnished  with  organs  proper  for  comminuting  and  reducing  it ;  for  when 
lignine  is  comminuted  and  reduced  by  artificial  processes,  it  is  said  to  form  a  substance 
analogous  to  the  amylaceous  principle,  and  to  be  highly  nutritious. 

This  statement  of  the  nutritious  property  of  lignine  when  minutely  pulverized,  is 
made  on  the  authority  of  Professor  Autenrieth,$  of  Tubingen,  who  states,  that  when 
wood  is  deprived  of  every  thing  soluble,  reduced  to  powder,  repeatedly  subjected  to  the 
heat  of  an  oven,  and  then  ground  in  the  manner  of  corn,  it  yields,  boiled  with  water,  a 
flour,  which  forms  a  jelly,  like  that  of  wheat-starch,  and,  when  fermented  with  leaven, 
makes  a  perfectly  uniform  and  spongy  bread  ;  and  Linnaeus||  states  that  the  Laplanders 

*  According  to  the  Rev.  J.  B.  Reade,  (Lond.  and  Edin.  Phil.  Mag.  vol.  xi.  p.  421,)  a  very  remarkable 
difference  exists  between  l he  chemical  composition  of  cellular  membrane  and  of  spiral  vessels  in  the 
same  plant.  But  his  "results  are  in  many  respects  so  remarkably  at  variance  wir,h  all  that  we  aro  as 
yet  acquainted  with  respecting  similar  subjects,  that  we  must  at  the  outset  doubt  their  correctness." 
(Meyen's  Report  on  the  Progress  of  Vegetable  Physiology  during  the  year  1837.  Translated  by  William 
Francis.  Lond.  1833. 

t  Ann.  des  Sden.  Nat.  2-':de  Ser.  Botanique.     1838. 

\  On  the  Nature  and  Treatment  of  Stomach  and  Urinary  Diseases,  p.  xi.     1840. 

§  Phil.  Trans.  1827,  p.  355.— Also,  The  Scots  Mag.  vol.  Ixxx.  p.  313. 

II  Flora  Lapponica. 


69  ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLES. 

eat  bark-bread  (barkbrod,)  prepared  from  the  bark  of  Pinus  syh-estris,*  during  a  great  part 
of  the  winter,  and  sometimes  even  during  the  whole  year. 

But  admitting  the  accuracy  of  these  facts,  it  by  no  means  follows  that  .ignine  is  nutri- 
tive ;  because  in  the  autumn,  after  the  formation  of  wood  has  ceased,  starch  is  formed, 
and  is  diffused  through  every  part  of  the  plant  by  the  autumnal  sap.f  "According  to 
the  observations  of  M.  Heyer,  the  starch  thus  deposited  in  the  body  of  the  tree  can  be 
recognised  in  its  known  form  by  the  aid  of  a  good  microscope.  The  barks  of  several 
aspens  and  pine-trees  contain  so  much  of  this  substance,  that  it  can  be  extracted  from 
them  as  from  potatoes  by  trituration  with  water."f  So  that  starch  may,  in  reality,  be 
the  nutritive  principle  of  the  wood-bread  and  bark-bread  above  referred  to.j 

The  ligneous  matter  of  our  ordinary  vegetable  foods  is  indigestible,  and  is  evacuated 
with  the  faeces,  of  which  it  makes  a  part.  The  skin  of  potatoes,  the  husk  of  the  grape, 
the  peel  and  core  of  apples  and  pears,  the  skin  and  stones  of  drupes,  (aS  plums,  peaches, 
&c.,)  the  skin  or  seed-coats  of  the  kernels  of  nuts,  the  membrane  covering  beans  and 
peas,  the  husk  of  gooseberries,  the  peel  of  cucumbers,  melons,  &c.,  the  husk  or  bran  of 
corn,  &c.,  are  all  indigestible,  and  incapable  of  being  assimilated.  But  though  insoluble 
and  unassimilable,  ligneous  matter  is  not  quite  useless.  It  serves  as  a  mechanical  stimu- 
lus to  the  bowels,  the  action  of  which  it  promotes.  "  Of  the  numerous  shapes  assumed 
by  lignine,"  says  Dr.  Prout,||  "  the  best  adapted  for  excremental  purposes  is  undoubtedly 
the  external  covering  of  the  seeds  of  the  cerealia,  and  particularly  of  wheat  Bread, 
therefore,  made  with  undressed  flour,  or  even  with  an  extra  quantity  of  bran,  is  the  best 
form  in  which  farinaceous  and  excremental  matters  can  be  usually  taken ;  not  only  in 
diabetes,  but  in  most  of  the  other  varieties  of  dyspepsia  accompanied  by  obstinate  consti- 
pation. This  is  a  remedy  the  efficacy  of  which  has  been  long  known  and  admitted  ;  yet, 
strange  to  say,  the  generality  of  mankind  choose  to  consult  their  taste  rather  than*  their 
reason  ;  and  by  officiously  separating  what  nature  has  beneficently  combined,  entail  upon 
themselves  much  discomfort  and  misery.  In  stating  above,  that  most  individuals  subject 
to  constipation  obtain  relief  by  the  use  of  brown  bread,  I  wished  to  imply  that  there  are 
some  exceptions ;  and  that  not  only  among  the  various  forms  of  dyspepsia,  but  even  in  dia- 
betes. In  such  instances,  the  mucous  membrane  of  the  stomach  and  intestines  is  often  so 
irritable,  that  the  mechanical  excitement  produced  by  furfuraceous  matters  cannot  be  borne  ; 
and  in  a  few  of  such  instances,  (not  in  all,)  the  second  great  class  of  excremental  matter?, 
those,  namely,  consisting  of  the  green  matter  of  the  leaves  of  plants,  is,  in  general,  little 
acted  on  by  the  stomachs  of  the  higher  animals ;  and  hence  may,  in  most  cases,  safely 
form  a  portion  of  the  food  of  diabetic  individuals." 

Fungin^  or  the  fleshy  part  of  mushrooms,  is  closely  allied  to  lignine,  of  which,  perhaps, 
it  is  only  a  variety.  It  is  the  substance  which  remains  after  mushrooms  have  been  de- 
prived of  every  thing  soluble  in  water,  alcohol,  and  a  weak  alkaline  solution.  From  Bra- 
connot'sIT  experiments  it  would  appear  to  be  highly  nitrogenous,  but  those  of  Vauquelin,** 
who  probably  obtained  fungin  in  a  purer  form  and  freer  from  foreign  nitrogenous  sub- 
stances, do  not  confirm  Braconnot's  statement,  but  seem  to  show  that  fungin  contains  but 
little  nitrogen.  Miillerff  considers  fungin  to  be  one  of  the  simple  nutritive  substances-tt 

*  See  Von  Buch,  in  The  Scots  Magazine,  vcl  Ixxx.  p.  315.     Edinb.  1817. 

t  Hartig,  in  Erdmann  und  Schweigger-SeideV  s  Journal.     1835. 

t  Liebig,  Chemistry  mits  Application  to  Agriculture  and  Physiology,  p.  119,  2d  ed.     1842. 

$  Appendix,  N.  ||  Op.  supra  tit.  p.  300 

IT  Ann.  Chim.  Ixxix.  **  Ibid.  Ixxxv 

•ft  Elements  of  Physiology,  Baly's  Translation,  p.  478.  #  Appendix,  N. 


PECTINE  AND  PECTIC  ACID.  69 

6.  THE  PECTINACEOUS  ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLE. 
(Vegetable  Jelly.) 

Jelly  is  of  two  kinds — animal  and  vegetable.  The  first  has  for  ks  base  animal  gelatirjB, 
and  will  be  described  hereafter,  (see  The  Gelatinous  Alimentary  Principled  The  second 
has  for  its  base  starch,  pectine,  or  pectic  acid.  Starch  has  been  already  noticed,  (see  The 
Amylaceaus  Alimentary  Principle  $  and  I  now  proceed  to  examine  the  dietetical  properties 
of  pectine  and  pectic  acid,  both  of  which  substances  I  include  under  the  denomination  of 
the  Pectinaceous  Alimentary  Principle. 

Pectine  (so  called  from  tr^/cr;?,  coagulum)  and  Pectic  acid  are  both  vegeto-gelatinous 
matters.  One  or  both  of  them  are  most  extensively  distributed  in  the  vegetable  kingdom. 
Most  puipy  fruits  contain  vegetable  jelly  ;  as  Currants,  (red,  white,  and  black,)  Apples, 
(botli  sweet  and  sour,)  Pears,  Quinces,  Plums,  Apricots,  the  Cucurbitaceous  fruits,  (as 
Melon,)  Gooseberries,  Blackberries,  Raspberries,  Strawberries,  Bilberries,  Mulberries, 
Cherries,  Love-apples,  Oranges,  Lemons,  Guava,  arid  Tamarinds.  The  Jerusalem  Arti- 
choke and  the  Onion  also  yield  it.  It  is  likewise  obtained  from  the  Carrot,  Turnip,  Celery, 
Beet,  and  many  other  roots.  Hitherto  the  quantity  procurable  from  different-  plants  has 
not  been  ascertained. 

In  the  dried  state,  pectine  and  pectic  acid  closely  resemble  each  other ;  but  the  former 
is  distinguished  from  the  latter  by  several  characters.  Pectine  dissolves  in  cold  water, 
yielding  a  thick  solution  which  does  not  redden  litmus  paper ;  whereas  pectic  acid  reddens 
litmus,  and  is  scarcely  soluble  in  water.  Dissolved  in  solution  of  ammonia,  pectine  yields 
no  precipitate  on  the  addition  of  an  acid  ;  whereas  pectic  acid,  treated  in  the  same  way, 
yields  a  gelatinous  precipitate.  Very  small  quantities  of  the  fixed  alkalies  or  alkaline 
earths  convert  pectine  into  pectic  acid. 

JPecune  has  been  analyzed  by  Mulder*  and  Fremy.f 

COMPOSITION  OF  PECTINE. 

100  Parts.  Carbon.  Hydrogen.  Oxygen.    Authority. 

Pectine  from  sweet  apples 45  198  5'352  49  45  } 

Ditto  from  sour  apples       45853  5*479  48  668  >  Mulder. 

Dittc  in  pectinate  of  lead 45  608  5  370  49  022) 

Ditto  in  ditto '  .    43'5  5'2  51  4        Frerny. 

Fremy  gives  as  the  formula  for  pectine  Cai  H17  O82.  Both  Fretny  and  Mulder  agree 
that  pectine  and  pectic  acid  are  identical  in  composition  :  the  latter  chemist  gives  Cla  H8 
O19  as  the  formula  for  pectic  acid  ;  while  RegnaultJ;  gives  C11  H7  O10.  According  to  Fremy 
the  saturating  power  of  pectic  acid  is  double  that  of  pectine  :  pectic  acid  combining  with 
two  atoms,  pectine  with  one  atom  of  a  base. 

By  boiling  with  an  acid  solution  (as  of  malic  acid)  both  pectine  and  pectic  acid  are 
converted  into  rnetapectic  acid,  which  is  very  soluble  in  water. 

According  to  Fremy,  unripe  fruits  contain  a  very  small  portion  only  of  pectine ;  but 
when  the  fruit  becomes  ripe,  pectine  is  formed  by  the  action  of  the  vegetable  acids  of  the 
fruit  on  a  pulpy  matter.  These  acids  are  contained  in  cells,  from  which  they  do  not 
escape  until  the  period  of  ripening,  when  the  cells  are  transparent,  distended,  and  per- 
meable. By  subjecting  fruit  to  heat  the  cells  burst  and  allow  the  acid  to  escape,  and  in 
this  way  .he  formation  of  pectine  is  promoted. 

The  same  chemist  has  also  shown  that  under  the  influence  of  vegetable  albumen  con- 
tained in  fruits,  pectine  is  convertible  into  pectic  acid.  This  fact  explains  why  an  impure 
aqueous  so'ution  of  pectine  gelatinizes  by  keeping  :  the  pectine  is  changed  by  vegetable 
albumen  into  pectic  acid.  It  explains  also  why  the  juice  of  a  fruit  by  prolonged  ebullition 

*  Fhannaceutisches  Central- Blatt  fur  1838,  p.  337. 

•f  J  \urnal  dt.  Pharmacie,  t.  xxvi.  p.  368.     1840.                           I  Ibid,  t  xxiv.  p.  201.     1838. 
(! _ 


70  ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLES. 

often  loses  its  power  of  gelatinizing  ;  since  the  matter  destined  to  form  the  jelly»has  been 
coagulated  or  destroyed.  Moreover,  under  the  influence  of  heat,  the  malic  or  other  vege- 
table acid  of  the  juice  may  convert  the  pectine  or  pectic  acid  into  metapectic  acid,  which 
is  very  soluble  in  water,  and  does  not  possess  the  property  of  gelatinizing. 

Sugar  promotes  the  solidification  of  both  pectine  and  pectic  acid.  If  sugar  be  dis- 
solved in  a  solution  of  pectine,  an  imperfect  jelly  is  formed,  which  finally  may  be  drawn 
out  in  threads.  It  also  promotes  the  gelatinization  of  pectic  acid,  a  property  which  the 
confectioner  takes  advantage  of,  in  the  preparation  of  the  jellies  of  currants,  apples,  cher- 
ries, gooseberries,  &c. 

The  dietetical  properties  of  vegetable  jelly  have  been  but  imperfectly  examined.  We 
believe  it  to  be  slightly  nutritive,  and  readily  digestible.  Analogy  leads  us  to  suppose 
that  its  alimentary  properties  are  similar  to  those  of  gum  ;  from  which,  however,  it  dif- 
fers somewhat  in  composition  : — gum  being  composed  of  carbon  and  water,  (or  ii 
merits,)  while  both  pectine  and  pectic  acid  consist  of  carbon  and  water,  (or  its  elements,) 
plus  oxygen,  (see  p.  13.)  Both  of  these  vegeto-gelatinous  principles  being  deficient  in 
nitrogen,  are  considered  by  Liebig  (see  ante,  p.  16)  to  be  mere  elements  of  respiration. 
But  on  account  of  the  excess  (in  relation  to  the  hydrogen)  of  oxygen  which  they  contain, 
it  is  possible  that  their  copious  use  would  diminish  the  activity  of  the  function  of  m-pi- 
ration,  (see  ante,  p.  14.)  Most  fruits  have  more  or  less  tendency  to  promote  alvine  evacu- 
ations: whether  or  not  this  is  ascribable  to  the  vegeto-gelatinous  principles  which  they 
contain,  or  to  some  other  constituent,  has  not  been  ascertained.  Braconnot*  h;i 
gested  the  preparation  of  jellies  with  pectic  acid,  to  which  various  flavoring  ingredients 
may  be  added.  "I  dissolved,"  says  he,  "in  warm  water,  one  part  of  pectate  of  potash 
prepared  from  turnips,  and  then  added  sugar  to  the  solution.  On  the  addition  of  an 
infinitely  small  quantity  of  acid,  the  whole  became,  in  a  few  minutes,  a  mass  of  trembling  jelly, 
weighing  1300  parts."  Such  a  jelly,  however,  must  contain  so  small  a  quantity  of  solid 
matter,  that,  instead  of  nourishing,  its  great  value  would  be  in  deceiving  morbid  a  pi 

1.  Fruit  Jellies. — A  variety  of  vegetable  jellies  are  prepared  by  the  confectioner.     Those 
in  greatest  request  are  Currant,  (red  and  black,)  Apple,  Strawberry,  and  R<i*j>hrrrij  . 

To  some  jellies  the  term  Marmalade  is  applied.  Thus  Quince  Marnuihnlc,  (tunner 
tained  in  the  Edinburgh  Pharmacopoeia,)  prepared  with  strained  quince-juice  and 
is  in  fact  a  jelly. 

Fruit  jellies  owe  part  of  whatever  nutritive  properties  they  possess,  to  sugar,  and  fre- 
quently to  animal  gelatine.  The  sugar  used  in  their  preparation  promotes  the  solidifi- 
cation of,  and  likewise  preserves,  the  vegetable  jelly,  which,  though  apt  to  become  mouldy, 
does  not  become  sour.  Ising-glass  is  frequently  added  to  communicate  firmness  or  still- 
ness. Fruit  jellies  fortn  very  agreeable  cooling  articles  of  food  in  febrile  and  inflam- 
matory complaints.  They  are  frequently  used  by  invalids  to  moisten  the  mouth  and 
fauces,  and  to  allay  thirst.  They  are  esteemed  antiscorbutic. 

When  dissolved  in  water  they  form  an  agreeable  drink.  An  extemporaneous  Rasp- 
berry Vinegar  is  made  by  dissolving  half  a  pint  of  raspberry  jelly  in  a  pint  of  vinegar. 
This,  when  diluted  with  water,  (forming  Raspberry- Vinegar  Water,')  affords  a  peasant 
cooling  beverage  for  allaying  thirst  in  fevers,  colds,  and  inflaTimatory  maladies 

2.  Jams,  4-c. — These  being  mixtures  of  vegetable  pulps  w^th  sugar,  are  in  fan 
$erve.s.     Those  in  most  demand  are  Raspberry,  Strawberry,  Currant,  (red  and  black,)  A 
Green  Gage,  Gooseberry,  and  Pine  Apple  Jams.     Closely  allied  to  these  are  the  Fruil- 
Cheeses,  as  Damson  Cheese,  Green  Gage  Cheese,  Bullace  Cheese,  <f-c.     Some  of  the  Mtr- 


*  Ann.  Chim.  et  Phys.  t.  ixviii.  and  xxx. 


ACIDS.  71 


malades  are  more  allied  to  jams  than  to  jellies.  Thus  Orange  or.  Scotch  Marmalade  is 
prepared  with  Seville  Oranges  and  Sugar,  to  which  Apple  liquor,  and  sometimes  a  little 
Balsam  of  Tolu,  are  added  for  flavoring. 

These  preparations  are  very  similar  in  their  effects  and  uses  to  the  fruit  jellies  above 
mentioned,  from  which  they  principally  differ  in  containing  a  quantity  of  insoluble,  and, 
therefore,  indigestible  ligneous  matters,  (as  vegetable  membrane,  cellular  tissue,  and  some- 
times seeds,)  which,  in  the  healthy  state  of  the  system,  contribute  by  their  mechanical 
stimulus  to  promote  the  action  of  the  bowels ;  but,  in  irritable  conditions  of  the  alimentary 
canal,  sometimes  prove  injurious. 

3.  Carrageenin. — The  mucilaginous  or  vegeto-gelatinous  substance  which  I  have  else- 
'  where*  denominated  Carrageenin,  is  contained  in'  Chondrus  crispus,  and  other  allied  sea- 
weeds, which  are  sold  in  the  shops  under  the  name  of  Carrageen,  Pearl,  or  Irish  Moss. 
It  is  perhaps  more  closely  allied  to  pectine  than  to  any  other  vegetable  principle. 

Its  composition,  according  to  Mulder,f  is  Carbon  4517,  Hydrogen  4'88,  and  Oxygen 
49-95.  Its  formula,  therefore,  is  Cia  H*  Ola.  So  that,  like  pectine,  Carrageenin  contains 
excess  of  oxygen.  A  solution  and  jelly  of  it  are  in  use.  (See  Chondrus  crispus.) 

7.   THE  ACIDULOUS  ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLE. 

I  have  admitted  the  existence  of  an  acidulous  alimentary  principle  for  two  reasons. 

Theirs/  is,  that* vegetable  acid  constitutes  one  of  the  ingredients  of  our  foods.  This 
statement  holds  good  for  ancient  as  well  as  for  modern  times, — and  both  for  barbarous 
and  civilized  nations.  Fruits  and  succulent  herbs,  in  both  of  which  vegetable  acid  exists, 
have  always  been  employed  as  food.  Moreover,  acetic  acid,  obtained  by  the  acetous  fer- 
mentation of  wine,  was  in  very  early  use.  Moses,|  who  lived  1,490  years  before  Christ, 
speaks  of  vinegar  of  wine  being  used  as  a  drink.  "  Vinegar,  either  by  accident  or  design," 
says  Dr.  Prout,§  "  has  been  employed  by  mankind  in  all  ages,  in  greater  or  less  quantity, 
as  an  aliment  ;  that  is,  substances  naturally  containing  it  in  small  quantity  have  been  em- 
ployed as  aliments  ;  or  it  has  been  formed  artificially  from  certain  bodies,  with  the  view  to 
alimentary  purposes." 

The  second  reason  is,  that  the  employment  of  vegetable  acid,  as  an  aliment,  is  necessary 
for  the  preservation  of  health.  At  least,  it  seems  pretty  clearly  established  that  the  "  com- 
plete and  prolonged  abstinence  from  succulent  vegetables  or  fruits,  or  their  preserved 
juices,  as  articles  of  food, "j|  is  a  cause  of  scurvy  ;  and  various  "  circumstances  render  it 
probable  that  the  antiscorbutic  virtue  [of  succulent  vegetables  or  fruits]  depends  on  the 
organic  acids,  or  on  some  salt  that  enters  the  system  only  in  combination  with  such 
acids.  The  latter  supposition  is  the  more  probable,  because  the  acids,  p  are,  have  much 
less  efficacy  in  preventing  scurvy  than  the  vegetable  juices  from  which  they  are  derived. 
Lemon-juice  evaporated  to  the  consistence  of  syrup,  as  originally  recommended  by 'Dr. 
Lind,  was  found  very  inferior  to  the  fresh  fruit;  and  the  crystallized  acid,  after  being  ex- 
tensively tried,  was  renounced  in  favor  of  the  juice  preserved  simply  by  the  addition  of  a 
certain  proportion  of  spirit."1F 

But  in  admitting  that  the  dietetical  use  of  vegetable  acid  is  necessary  to  health,  it  must 
not  be  assumed  that  all  vegetable  acids,  which  can  be  taken  as  food,  are  equally  effica- 

*  See  my  Elements  ofMatena  Medica,  vol.  ii.  p.  874,  2d  ed.      1842. 
t  Pharmaceutisch.es  Central-Blatt  fur  183S,  p.  500. 
I  Numbers,  ch.  vi.  v.  3. 

$  On  the  Nature  and  Treatment  of  Stomach  and  Urinary  Diseases,  p.  ix.  3d  ed.  1840. 
||  Dr.   Budd,  Lectures  on  the  Disorders  resulting  from  Defective  Nutriment,  in  The  London  Medical 
Gazette,  July  22,  1842,  p.  633.  IT  Dr.  Budd,  loccit.  p.  716. 

t 


ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLES. 


cious  ;  for  experience  has  proved  that  this  is  not  the  case.  Thus,  though  we  admit  that 
lemon-juice  is  a  valuable  anti-scorbutic,  we  cannot  make  the  same  statement  of  vinegar; 
the  united  observations  of  Drs.  Lind,  Gilbert  Blane,  ?nd  Trotter,  having  shown  that  the 
liberal  use  of  vinegar  by  sailors  did  not  prevent  the  appearance,  nor  check  the  progress 
of  .scurvy. 

WakT  shaipened  with  the  vegetable  acids  oftentimes  proves  a  most  refreshing  bever- 
age, allaying  thirst,  and  moderating  excessive  heat.     When  taken  in  the  free  state  these 
acids  siiifor  no  appreciable  chemical  change  in  the  system,  except  that  of  combining  with 
a  niist-  ;  for  Drs.  Wtihler  and   Stehberger*  detected  oxalic,  tartaric,  and  gallic  acids,  in 
combination  with  bases,  in  the  urine  of  persons  to  whom  these  acids  had  been  adminis- 
tered in  the  free  state.     Now,  inasmuch  as  the  chyle  and  blood  are  always  alkaline,  it 
follows  that  these  acids  must  have  entered  into  combination  with  bases  befor 
tered  the  circulation.     It  is  probable,  therefore,  that  the  bile  furnishes  the  basic  muf 
neutralizing  the  acids  previous  to  their  absorption.     It  is  remarkable,  however,  that  the 
tartrates,  citrates,  malates,  and  acetates  of  potash  and  soda,  taken  into  the  stomach,  suf- 
fer decomposition  in  the  system,  and  are  converted  into  carbonates  of  their  res] 
bases.     This  fact,  first  noticed  by  Sir  Gilbert  Blane,  but  confirmed  by  Drs.  Wiihler  and 
Stehberger,  has  been  already  adverted  to,  and  the  changes  \vhich  the  vegetable  acids 
suffer,  explained.     (See  ante,  pp.  14  and  15.)t 

I  now  proceed  to  make  a  few  remarks  on  those  organic  acids  which*are  most  frequently 
used  for  dietetical  purposes. 

1.  Acetic  Acid  or  The  Acid  of  Vinegar.  —  To  this  substance  Pyroligneous  Acid,  Vmegtr, 
Sour  Beer,  and  Sour  Wine,  owe  entirely  or  principally  their  acid  properties.     Anhydrous 
or  real  acetic  acid,  as  it  exists  in  some  acetates,  has  the  following  composition,  C4  II    <  >* 
(.llnc.ial  or  Crystallizable  Acetic  Acid,  the  strongest  procurable,  contains  one  equivalent  of 
water.     Its  formula  is  C4  H8  Os.  -f-  Aqua. 

Pyroligneous  Acid,  called  also  Wood  Vinegar,  or  White  Vinegar,  is  obtained  by  the  dis- 
tillation of  wood.  When  pure  it  consists  of  acetic  acid  and  water  only. 

The  Common  Vinegar  of  the  shops  is  procured  by  subjecting  an  infusion  of  malt,  or 
of  a  mixture  of  malt  and  raw  barley,  to  the  acetous  fermentation-^  Hence  it  is  com- 
monly termed  Malt  Vinegar.  It  has  a  yellowish  red  color  and  an  agreeable  acid  taste, 
which  i{  owes  principally  to  acetic  acid,  but  in  part  also  to  sulphuric  acid,  and  a  peculiar 
refreshing,  pleasant  odor,  which  it  derives  from  acetic  acid  and  acetic  ether.  The 
makers  of  it  sell  four  vinegars,  of  different  degrees  of  strength,  which  they  distinguish 
as  Nos.  18,  20,  22,  and  24.  The  vinegar  distinguished  as  No.  24,  or  Proof  Vinegar,  is 
the  strongest  that  is  made.  It  is  almost  too  strong  for  ordinary  use  at  the  table,  but  is 
employed  for  pickling  and  preserving  meat,  fish,  and  game  ;  whence  it  has  received  its 
name  of  Strongest  Pickling  Vinegar.  The  vinegar  known  as  No.  22  is  adapted  for 
the  table,  and  for  pickling  most  vegetables,  whence  it  is  frequently  called  Best  Pickling 
Vinegar.  Malt  vinegar  has  the  following  composition  :  — 

COMPOSITION  OF  MALT  VINEGAR. 

Acetic  Acid.  Alcohol  (a  small  portion.) 

Acetic  Ether.  Sulphuric  Acid  (1-1000  part.) 

Coloring  Matter.  Water.  _ 


Peculiar  Mucilaginous  Matter.  3Ialt  Vinegar.^ 

*  See  my  Elements  of  Materia  Medico,  vol.  i.  p.  109,  2d  ed.  t  Appendix,  O.         {  Appendix,  P. 

t  Vinegar  is  very  liable  to  undergo  decomposition :  it  becomes  turbid,  loses  its  acidity,  acquires  an 
unpleasant  odor,  and  deposilos  a  .-lippery  siolatinifonn  substance.  The  mucilaginous  coat  or  skin  which 
forivs  on  the  surface  of  vinegar,  and  is  called  the  Mother  of  Vinegar,  consists  of  myriads  of  exceedingly 


ACIDS.  73 


Vinegar-makers  are  allowed  by  law  to  add  the  above-mentioned  quantity  of  sulphuric 
acid. 

-  Wine  Vinegar,  also  called  French  Vinegar,  is  obtained  from  wines  of  inferior  quality. 
It  is  of  two  kinds,  white  and  red.  While  Wine  Vinegar  is  usually  preferred,  as  it  keeps 
better.  That  which  is  made  at  Orleans  is  considered  to  be  the  best.  The  constituents -of 
wine  vinegar  are  very  similar  to  ihose  of  malt  vinegar.  It  contains  a  small  quantity  of 
bitartrate  and  sulphate  of  potash.  Wine  vinegar  may  be  distinguished  from  malt  vinegar 
by  ammonia,  which  occasions  in  the  former  a  purplish  precipitate,  but  not  in  the  latter. 

Distilled  Vinegar  is  usually  imitated  in  the  shops  by  diluted  pyroligneous  acid  ;  but  this 
imitation  has  not  so  fragrant  an  odor  as  the  genuine  article. 

The  following  table  shows  the  proportion  ofcacetic  acid  in  the  preceding  prepara- 
tions : — 

TABLE  SHOWING  THE  QUANTITY  OF  ACETIC  ACID  IN  SEVERAL  ACETOUS 

COMPOUNDS. 

100  Parts.  Anhydrous  Acid. 

Pyroligneous  Acid  (Acetic  Acid  of  the  London  Pharmacopoeia)  30-8 

Malt  Vinegar  (No.  24,  or  Proof  Vinegar)              4-6 

Wine  Vinegar 5-36 

Distilled  Vinegar  of  the  London  Pharmacopeia        ....  3-07 

Vinegar  is  used  at  the  table  as  a  condiment,  on  account  of  its  agreeable  flavor  and 
refreshing  odor.  It  is  employed  either  alone  or  with  pickles.  When  taken  in  small 
quantities  it  is  quite  wholesome,  allaying  thirst  and  checking  preternatural  heat.  Small 
quantities  do  not  appear  to  act  injuriously  on  the  stomach  ;  nay,  a  considerable  quantity 
has  been  taken  at  one  time  with  impunity.  Dr.  Christison  knew  a  case  in  which  eight 
ounces  were  swallowed  without  injury.  But  the  habitual  use  of  it  is  injurious,  and,  by 
disturbing  the  function  of  the  stomach,  may  give  rise  to  wasting.*  "  Every  one  knows  " 
says  Giacomini,  "  that  when  habitually  taken,  it  produces  leanness,  from  a  sort  of  lan- 
guor of  the  digestive  process." 

2.  Citric  Acid;  Concrete  Acid  of  Lemons. — This  acid,  in  the  free  state  and  combined 
with  little  or  no  malic  acid,  is  a  constituent  of  the  juice  of  the  Lemon,  the  Orange*  {"hitter 
and  sweet,)  the  Lime,  the  Citron,  the  Shaddock,  and  other  fruits  of  the  genus  Citrus,  all 
of  which  owe  their  sourness  to  this  acid.  The  Cranberry  and  the  fruit  of  the  Dog-rose 
likewise  contain  it.  Mixed  with  an  equal  quantity  of  malic  acid,  it  is  found  in  the  Goose- 
berry, the  Red  Currant,  the  Strawberry,  the  Raspberry,  the  Cherry,  and  the  Bilberry. 
Mixed  with  both  malic  and  tartaric  acids,  it  exists  in  the  pulp  of  the  Tamarind. 

The  composition  of  citric  acid  is  as  follows  : — 

FORMULAE  OF  CITRIC  ACID. 

Hypothetical  or  dry  Citric  Ar-id  as  it  exists  in  some  citrates  C12  H5  Ou 

Citric  Acid  crystallized  by  cooling  a  solution  saturated  at  212°      C12  H5  O11  -j-  Aqua* 

Commercial  crystals  of  Citric  Acid C12  H5  Ou-[-  Aqua5 

Citric  acid  is  employed  as  a  substitute  for  lemon  and  lime  juice  in  the  preparation  of 
refreshing  and  cooling  beverages. 

minute  vegetab'es  having  a  spheroidal  form.  The  surface  of  vinegar  is  frequently  covered  by  mouldi- 
ness,  which,  when  examined  by  the  microscope,  i<s  seen  to  consist  of  minute  fungi,  called  by  botanists 
Mucor  Muccdo.  The  microscopic  animals  called  Vinegar  Eels  (AnguiUula  Ace(i)  are  generated  ;ind 
nourished  in  vinegar.  They  may  be  destroyed  by  submitting  the  liquid,  in  which  they  are  contained, 
to  heat.  Vinegar  is  also  infested  by  a  small  fly,  (Musca  cellaris.) 

*  It  is  in  repute  with,  young  ladies  for  diminishing  obesity.  But  the  following  case,  from  Portal,  quo- 
ted by  Giacomini,  shows  the  ill  consequences  of  employing  it  for  thus  purpose  :— if  A  few  years  ago,  a 
young  lady,  in  easy  circumstances,  enjoyed  good  health ;  she  was  very  plump,  had.  a  good  appetite,  and 


74  ACIDS. 


Artificial  Lemm  Juice  is  prepared  by  dissolving  nine  drachms  and  twelve  graius  of 
crystallized  citric  acid  in  a  wine-pint  of  water,  and  flavoring  with  a  drop  of  essence  of 
lemon  dissolved  in  a  teaspoonful  of  spirit.*  This  preparation  is  less  apt  to  un  Icrgo  de- 
composition than  the  genuine  juice,  for  which  the  artificial  compound  may  be  substituted 
in  the  preparation  of  agreeable  and  refrigerant  drinks. 

The  effervescing  powder  sold  under  the  name  of  Lemon  and  Kali  should  consist  of 
powdered  white  sugar  two  parts,  dried  and  powdered  citric  acid  one  part,  and  powden  d 
bicarbonate  of  potash  one  part  and  a  quarter.  But  as  citric  acid  is  slightly  deliquescent, 
this  preparation  does  not  keep  well,  and  is  apt  to  form  a  hard  mass.  Hence  Concrete 
Acidulated  Alkali  [hereafter  to  be  described]  is  frequently  substituted  for  it 

3.  Tartaric  Acid  or  Crystallized  Aci&of  Tartar.— This  acid,  in  the  free  state,  exists  in 
Tamarinds,  Grapes,  and  the  Pine-apple.  Bitartrate  of  potash,  also  called  Cream  of  Tar- 
tar, is  found  in  Tamarinds,  Grapes,  and  Mulberries.  During  the  fermentation  of  winr, 
this  salt,  in  combination  with  coloring  and  extractive  matters,  is  deposited  on  the  sides  of 
the  cask,  and  is  termed  Crude  Tartar  or  Argol  A  further  deposition  also  takes  place 
after  bottling,  and  is  then  called  the  Crust. 

The  formula  for  anhydrous  tartaric  acid  is  C4  H*  O5,  or  double  this,  viz.  C8  H4  O1". 
The  crystallized  acid,  therefore,  is  either  C4  H*  O5  +  Aqua,  or  C8  H4  O"  +  Aqua*. 

Tartaric  acid  is  employed  as  a  cheap  substitute  for  citric  acid  or  lemon  juice.     Bt 
cheapness,  it  has  another  advantage  over  citric  acid,  viz.  its  not  being  deliquescent  when 
exposed  to  the  air.     But  in  flavor  it  is  decidedly  inferior  to  citric  acid. 

A  variety  of  effervescing  powders,  prepared   with  tartaric  acid  and  sesquicarbonate 
(bicarbonate)  of  soda,  are  kept  in  the  shops.     The   Concrete  Acidulated  Alkali,  befoie  r-  - 
ferred  to,  is  'Tt-riared  by  intimately  mixing  one  part  of  powdered  tartaric   acid,  one  part 
of  bicarbonate  of  soda  ?.nd  two  parts  oi'oowdered  \\hite  suga-     This  powder  is  flavored 
with  essence  of  lemon,  in  the  proportion  of  filly  drops  to  one  pound  of  the  mixtur 
teaspoonful  of  this  is  taken  in  a  little  water  contained  in  a  tumbler. — The  Soda  1' 
of  the  shops  consist  of  thirty  grains  of  bicarbonate  of  soda,  contained  in  a  blue  paper,  and 
twenty-five  grains  of  powdered  tarlaric  acid,  in  a  white  paper.     When  taken,  they  should 
be  dissolved  in  half  a  pint  of  water. — Ginger-beer  Powders  are  made  in  tlu>  same  v, 
soda  powders,  except  that  five  grains  of  powdered  ginger  and  a  drachm  of  white  sugar 
are  mixed  with  the  bicarbonate  of  soda.     All  these  preparations  furnish  us  with  ;, 
temporaneous  Effervescing  Saline  Draught,  containing  tartrate  of  sodq,  and  the  flavor  of 
which  is?  much  improved  by  adding  to  the  water,  before  dissolving   the  acid  or  mixed 
powder,  two  or  three  drachms  of  syrup  and  half  a  drachm  of  tincture  of  orange  peel. 

a  complexion  blooming  with  roses  and  lilies.  She  began  to  look  upon  her  plumpness  with  suspicion  ; 
for  her  mother  was  very  fat,  and  she  was  afraid  of  becoming  like  her.  Accordingly,  she  con.Milted  a 
woman,  who  advised  her  to  drink  a  small  glass  of  vinegar  daily  :  the  youni:  lady  followed  hor  ad\  ire, 
and  her  plumpness  diminished.  She  was  delighted  with  the  success  of  the  remedy,  and  continued  it 
for  more  than  a  month.  Hie  began  to  have  a  cough ;  but  it  was  dry  at  its  commencement,  and  w:; 
sidered  as  a  slight  cold,  which  would  sjo  off.  Meantime,  from  dry  it  became  moist :  a  slow  lever  <-aine 
on,  and  a  difficulty  of  breathing;  her  body  became  lean,  and  wasted  away  ;  night  sweats,  swelling  of 
the  feet  and  of  the  legs,  succeeded,  and  a  diarrhoea  terminated  her  life.  On  examination,  all  the  lobes  of 
the  lungs  were  found  filled  with  tubercles,  and  somewhat  resembling  a  bunch  of  grapes." 

*  Of  this  solution,  or  of  lemon  juice,  which  is  of  equal  strength,  a  scruple  of  bicarbonate  of  P< 
saturates  three  lluid  drachms  and  a  half;  a  scruple  of  carbonate  of  Potassa,  four  fluid  drachms  :  and  a 
•cruple  of  carbonate  of  Ammonia,  six  fluid  drachms.  Haifa  fluid  ounce  of  lemon  juice,  or  of  an  rqr.al 
•olution  of  citric  acid,  when  saturated,  is  considered  as  a  dose.  A  pleasant  drink  may  be  prepared  by 
dissolving  a  scruple  of  the  citric  acid  in  a  pint  of  water,  and  sweetening  to  the  taste  with  sugar  which 
has  been  rubbed  on  fresh  lemon-peel. — L. 


ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLES.  75 

Seidlitz  Powders  consists  of  two  drachms  of  tartarized  soda  and  two  scruples  of  bicar- 
bonate of  soda,  contained  in  a  blue  paper,  and  a  half  a  drachm  of  powdered  tartarac  acid 
in  a  white  paper.  These  are  to  be  taken,  dissolved  in  half  a  pint  of  water,  while  the 
liquid  is  in  a  state  of  effervescence.  They  form  an  agreeable  and  mild  aperient* 

Cream  of  tartar  is  frequently  substituted  for  tartaric  acid,  in  the  preparation  of  cooling 
drinks.  The  liquid  called  Imperial  is  of  this  kind.  It  is  formed  by  dissolving  one  drachm  or  a 
drachm  and  a  half  of  cream  of  tartar  in  a  pint  of  boiling  water,  and  flavoring  wiih  lemon-peel 
and  sugar.  When  cold,  the  solution  may  be  taken  ad  libitum,  as  a  refrige/ant  beverage 
in  febrile  complaints,  especially  where  it  is  desirable  to  promote  the  secretion  of  urine. 

All  the  above  effervescing  compounds,  as  well  as  imperial,  are  injurious  to  patients 
troubled  with  white  sand  (phosphatic  deposits)  in  the  urine  ;  in  consequence  of  the  alka- 
line tartrate  being  converted  into  an  alkaline  carbonate,  (see  p.  15,)  which  passes  out  of 
the  system  in  the  urine,  and  promotes  the  deposition  of  the  earthy  phosphates. 

Acidulated  Drops  or  Lozenges,  consist  of  barley-sugar  sharpened  with  tartaric  acid,  as  I 
have  before  stated,  (see  p.  58.)  They  are  useful  in  coughs  and  sore-throats,  but  are  com- 
monly taken,  on  account  of  their  agreeable  flavor,  as  articles  of  confectionery. 

4.  Malic  Acid  or  Acid  of  Apples. — This  acid  is  very  extensively  distributed  in  the  vege- 
table kingdom.     It  exists  in  the  free  state  in  Apples,  Pears,  Quinces,  Plums,  Apricots, 
Peaches,  Cherries,  Gooseberries,  Currants,  Strawberries,  Raspberries,  Blackberries,  Pine- 
apples, Barberries,  Elderberries,  Grapes,  Love-apples,  Tamarinds,  and  several  other  fruits. 
It  is  usually  accompanied  by  citric  acid.     Wine,  Cider,  and  Perry,  likewise  contain  it. 
The  formula  for  the  hydrated  acid  is  C8  H4  O3  +  Aqua"1.     Its  dietetical  properties  are  ana- 
logous to  citric  acid ;  but  it  is  not  employed  in  the  separate  state. 

5.  Oxalic  Acid. — This  exists  in  a  considerable  number  of  plants.     Those  which  it  is 
necessary  here  to  refer  to,  as  being  employed  at  the  table,  are  the  Garden  Rhubarb,  whose 
leafstalks  are  used  in  tarts  and  puddings;  Common  Sorrel,  which  is  sometimes  taken  as 
a  potherb  and  salad  ;  and  Common  Woodsorrel,  which  is  occasionally  eaten  as  an  anti- 
scorbutic.    The  crystallized  acid  of  the  shops  is  obtained  by  the  action  of  nitric  acid  on 
sugar,  or  molassos.f     Its  formula  is  CaO9  -f-  Aqua3.     In  large  doses  and  in  a  concentrated 
form,  it  is  an  energetic  poison  ;  but  in  small  quantities  and  largely  diluted,  it  may  be  used 
.without  injury.     In  this  country  it  is  never  taken  internally.     In  France,  however,  it  is 
sometimes  employed  in  the  preparation  of  acidulous  drinks,  (called  lemonades,)  in  the  pro- 
portion of  twelve  or  fifteen  grains  of  acid  to  a  quart  of  water;  but  it  is  much  safer  to 
use  tartaric  acid.     Lozenges  containing  this  acid  have  been  prepared  under  the  name  of 
Tablettes  d'Acide  Oxalique,  or  Pastilles  pour  la  soif;  but  they  present  no  advantage  over 
the  ordinary  acidulated  drops.J 

Quadroxalate  of  Potash,  sold  in  the  shops  as  Salt  of  Sorrel,  has  also  been  employed  in  ' 
the  preparation  of  refrigerant  drinks  and  lozenges. 

6.  Lactic  Acid,  or  Milk  Acid. — This  acid  exists  in  sour  milk.     It  is  also  formed  when 

*  Seidlitz  Powders,  in  ti*>  country,  are  usually  prepared  by  mixing  two  drachms  of  Tartrate  of 
Potassa  and  Soda,  (Rochelle  Salt,)  and  two  scruples  of  bicarbonate  of  Soda,  put  up  in  a  white  paper, 
and  thirty -five  grains  of  Tartaric  Acid  contained  in  a  blue  one.  This  excess  of  acid  renders  it  more 
pleasant,  without  injuring  its  aperient  quality.— L. 

t  Many  substances  besides  sugar  yield  oxalic  acid,  by  the  action  of  nitric  acid,  such  a?  starch,  gum, 
wool,  hair,  silk,  and  many  vegetable  acids.  Organic  substances  also  yield  oxalic  acid  when  heated 
with  potassa,  such  us  wood-shavings,  &c. — L. 

^  Oxalic  acid  has  frequently  destroyed  life,  from  its  having  been  mistaken  for  Epsom  sa\ts,  which  it 
closely  resembles.  They  are  however  readily  distinguished  by  tasting;  the  first  being  very  sour,  and 
the  latter  bitter.  Epsom  salts  should  never  be  swallowed  without  previously  testing  them  by  the 
taste.— L. 


!    70                                          ALIMENTARY 

PRINCIPLES. 

various  vegetable  substances  become  sour  —  a 
water.     Its  composition  and  formation  out  of 
56.)     "This  acid,"  says  Dr.  Prout,  "like  th 
cnmstances,  capable  of  becoming  an  alimer 
even  developed  in  the  stomach,  and,  indeed, 
probably  less  digestible,  and,  therefore,  less  a 
Under  the  erroneous  idea  that  lactic  acid  w 
dissolved  in  fye  stomach,  lactic  acid  lemonade, 
in  dyspepsia  arising  from  simple  debility  of  t 
7.  Tannic  Acid.  —  This,  though  a  constitue 
Tea,  can  scarcely  be  considered  alimentary. 

8.  THE  ALCOHOLIC  AL 

The  reasons  for  believing  that  under  some 
ciple,  have  been  already  stated,  (see  pp.  25,  ' 
The  formula  for  pure  or  anhydrous  alco 
Spirit  of  Wine  consists  of  alcohol  and  wate 
840)  contains  about  90  per  cent,  of  alcohol. 
Alcohol  is  a  product  of  the  vinous  fermenta 
Cider,  Perry,  and  Malt  liquors,  (Beer,  Ale,  ai 
distillation  from  vinous  liquids.     The  followi 
various  Wines,  Spirits,  and  Malt  Liquors,  ac 

TABLE  of  the  proportion  of  ALCOHOL  (sp.  gr 
100  parts   of  Wine,  Sp 

Brande.          Others. 
1    Lissa                              A  25-41       15-90  P 

s  when  oatmeal  is  left  in  a  large  quantity  of 
sugar  have  betn  already  adverted  to,  (see  p. 
e  acetic  acid,  is  probably,  under  certain  cir- 
t  ;  but  as  it  is  often  found  unchanged  and 
in  almost  all  parts  of  the  animal  system,  it  is 
dapted  as  an  aliment,  than  the  acetic  acid." 
is  one  of  the  agents  by  which  aliments  are 
and  lactic  acid  lozenges,  have  been  employed 
he  digestive  organs, 
nt  of  some  articles  employed  at  the  table,  as 

[MENTARY  PRINCIPLE* 

circumstances  alcohol  is  an  alimentary  prin- 
26,  and  27.) 
hoi  (sp.  gr.  0-7947  at  60°  F.)   is  C4  H"  O«. 
r.     Rectified  spirit  of  wine  (sp.   gr.  0835  to 

lion.     It  is,  therefore,  a  constituent  of  Wines, 
id  Porter,)  and  of  Ardent  Spirits  obtained  by 
ig  are  the  quantities  of  alcohol  contained  in 
cording  to  the  best  authorities, 

0*825,  at  6°   F.)  by  measure,  contained  in 
>//>-,  MtiU  Liquors,  cf-c.f 

Brande.           Others. 

33.  Burgundy    .          .     .     A.  1457       12-16  P. 
:U    Hock                                A    12O8 

2    Raisin                         .     A    2V  12 

:5    "Uar-ala                  .     .     A.  25-09.       18-40  P 

35    Nice                                       1  1  «'•< 

•1.    I'ort     A.  22-'J(>       2"T>1    P. 
S.Madeira.     .          .     .     A.  22-27       21-21)  P. 
(6    Currant                                20-55 

36.  Barsac     
37    Tent                                      1330 

38,  (  l.a.nnagne      .     .          A.   12-rtl        12-20  F.     . 
39.  Red  Hermitage     . 
J".   Via  de  Grave       .                13  9  J 
11.   Krontigriac   (Rivesalle)       !2-7.« 
te  Rotie       .     .       • 
43.  Gooseberry       .     .         A.   1  1  -s  1 
44.  Orange    IK'fi 

7.  Sherry     ....         A.  19-17      2380  P. 
8.  Teneriffe     ....           19-79 

'.'    Colari's                    .     .            19'75 

10.  Lachryma  Christi     .           19-70 
11.  Coustaiitia,  white      .           19-75  >    ,<.-,/> 
12.  Constantia,  red                     1892  £    l 
13    Lisbon                   .     .           18-94 

45    Tokay                                     9-88 

14.  Malaga    18-94 

46.  Elder                                     8-79 

15.  Bucellas       .     .          .           IS-  19 
Hi.   K.-.l  Madeira                .     A.  20-  3  J 
17.  Cape  Muschat                      18-25 
H.  Cape  .Madeira                 A.  20-.M 
19.  Grapr  \\ine     .           .            18'11 
20.  Calcavella  .     .               A.  18-65 
21    Vidonia                                   19-25 

47.  Cider,  highest  average         9-87 
Ditto,  lowest  ditto     .            5-21 
48.  Perry,  average  of  four 
•ample*  .    .    .                7-26 
49.  Mead      ....                 7-32 
50.  Ale  (Burton)    .     .                 8'88 
London  (Edinburgh              6-20 
Ditto  (Dorche^^r/          '     5-56 
Average                    6-87 
51.  Brown  Stout    .     .                 6-80 
52.  London  Porter   (ave              420 
rage) 

22.  Alba  Flora  .     .                     17-26 
23.  Malaga    .     .     .                     17-26 
24.  White  Hermitage                17-43 
25    Rousillon     .    .              A.   18-13 
26    Claiet          .     .              A    15-10 
27    Zante                .                    17-05 
2S    Malmsey-Madeira                16-40 
29    Lunel      15-52       1801  F. 
30.  Sheraaz  .     .         .     .           15-52 

53.  Ditto  Small  Beer     .             1-28 
54    Brandy                                  5,2-39 

35    Rum                                      53-68 

56.  Gin     57  60 
57.  Scotch  Whiskey                 5132 
58.  Irish   ditto    .     .     .               53-90 

verage,  F.  Julia-Fontenelfe   P.  Prout 

1           31.  Syracuse      .     .     .                15'2S       30-00  P. 
i           32.  Siuterne      ....           14-22 

*  Appendix,  Q.             t  A.  means  a 

ALCOHOL. 


77 


According  to  the  more  recent  experiments  of  Dr.  Chnstison,  the  quantity  of  alcohol 
wines  has  been  somewhat  overrated.     The  following  are  his  results  : — 


Alcohol    (0-7939) 

Proof  Spirit 

per    cent,   by 

per  cent,  by 

weight. 

volume. 

{Weakest 

14-97 

30-56 

Mean  of  7  wines 

16-20 

33-91 

Strongest 

17  10 

37-27 

White         .... 

14-97 

31-31 

("Weakest       ... 

13-98 

30-84 

1  Mean  of  13  wines,  excluding  those 

very  long  kept  in  cask 

15-37 

33-59 

Sherry  4  Strongest       

16-17 

35-12 

Mean  of  9  wines  very  long  kept  in 
cask  in  the  East  Indies 

14-72 

32-30 

^Madre  da  Xeres 

16-90 

37-06 

Madeira,  all  long  in  cask  in    (  Strongest 
'  East  Indies           .        .      (  Weakest 

16-90 
14-09 

36-81 
30-86 

TenerifFe,  long  in  cask  at  Calcutta 

13-84 

30-21 

Cercial            .... 

15-45 

33-65 

Dry  Lisbon     ..... 

16-14 

34-71 

Shiraz             . 

1295 

28-30 

Amontillado           .... 

12-63 

27-60 

Claret,  a  first  growth  of  1811 
Chateau-Latour,  first  growth  1825 

7-72 

7-78 

16-95 
17-06 

Rosan,  second  growth  1825 

7-61 

16-74 

Ordinary   Claret,   a   superior   "vin   ordinaire" 

8-99 

18-96 

Rivesaltes*                       ... 

9-31 

22-35 

Malmsey        

12-86 

28-37 

Rudesheimer,  superior  quality 

8-40 

18-44 

Ditto           inferior  quality 

6-90 

15-19 

Hambacher,    superior  quality 

7-35 

16-15 

Edinburgh  Ale,  unbottled     . 

7-35 

16-15 

Same  Ale,  2  years  bottled 

5-70 

12-60 

London  Porter,  4  months  in  bottles 

5-36 

11-91 

Dr.  Christison  states  that  by  keeping  wines,  as  Sherry  and  Madeira,  in  casks,  for  a  mod- 
erate term  of  years,  the  quantity  of  alcohol  increases ;  but  after  a  certain  time  it  decreases  ; 
and  it  is  probable  that  at  the  period  when  wines  begin  to  lose  alcohol  they  cease  to  im- 
prove in  flavor. 

The  value  of  ardent  spirits  is,  of  course,  proportionate  to  the  quantity  of  alcohol  con- 
tained therein  ;  and,  therefore,  a  ready  mode  of  estimating  this  is  most  desirable.  The 
alcoholometrical  method  usually  adopted  consists  in  determining  the  sp.  gr.  of  the  liquid  by 
an  instrument  called  the  hydrorneter,  (from  {5<5<dp,  water ;  ^erpf'w,  /  measure.)  That  employ- 
ed in  this  country,  in  the  collection  of  the  duties  on  spirits,  is  called  Sikes's  hydrometer. 
Spirit  having  the  sp.  gr.  0  920,  at  60°  F.,  is  called  proof  spirit ;  that  which  is  heavier  is 
said  to  be  under  proof,  while  that  which  is  lighter  is  called  over  proof.*  The  origin  of  these 
terms  is  as  follows  : — Formerly  a  very  rude  mode  of  ascertaining  the  strength  of  spirits 
was  practised,  called  the  proof:  the  spirit  was  poured  upon  gunpowder,  in  a  dish,  and 
inflamed.  If  at  the  end  of  the  combustion  he  gunpowder  took  fire,  the  spirit  was  said 

*  Spirit,  which  is  of  the  strength  of  43  per  cent,  otx/  vroof  at  the  least,  is  recogr.ised  by  the  legislature 
(6  Geo.  4.  cap.  80,  Sects.  101  and  114)  as  spirits  of  wine.  All  spirit  under  this  strength  is  known  in  trade 
as  plain  spirit.  Distillers  are  not  permitted  (Ibid.  Sect.  81)  to  send  out  spirits  at  any  other  strengths 
than  25  of  i  1  per  cent,  above,  or  10  per  cent,  below  proof.  Raw  corn  spirit,  therefore,  is  sold  at  25  or  11  per 
cent,  above  proof.  Compounded  spirits  (as  Gin)  are  not  allowed  (Ibid.  Sect.  124)  to  be  kept  or  sent  out 
stronger  than  17  per  cent,  under  proof;  but  Gin,  as  sold  by  the  rectifier,  is  usually  22  per  cent,  under 
proof.  Foreign  or  Colonial  spirits  (not  being  compounded  colonial  spirits)  must  not  be  kept  or  sent  out  of 
less  strength  than  17  per  cent,  underproof,  (Ibid.  Sect.  130.)  Rum  and  Brandy,  as  common  y  sold,  are 
10  per  cent,  under  proof. 


78  ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLES. 

to  be  above  or  over  proof;  but  if  the  spirit  contained  much  water,  the  powder  was  ren- 
dered so  moist  that  it  did  not  take  fire  :  in  this  case  the  spirit  was  declared  to  be  below  or 
under  proof.  As  spirit  of  different  strengths  will  or  will  not  inflame  gunpowder,  according 
to  the  quantity  of  spirit  employed,  it  became  necessary  to  fix  the  legal  value  of  proof 
spirits  :  this  has  been  done,  and  proof  spirit  (Spirilus  tenuior)  is  defined,  by  act  of  par- 
liament, to  be  such,  that  at  the  temperature  of  51°  F.,  thirteen  volumes  of  it  weigh  exactly 
as  much  as  twelve  volumes  of  water.  According  to  this  definition  the  sp.  gr.  at  60°  F.  is 
0920,  and  spirit  of  this  strength  consists  of 

By  Weight.  Sp.  Gr. 

Alcohol        i        ...        49  ...        0-791 

Water  51  1-000 


Proof  spirit  ...       100  ...        0-920 

Spirit  is  employed  by  the  cook  and  confectioner,  as  a  preservative  agent.  Thus  Brandy 
is  used  to  preserve  several  kinds  of  fruit.*  Its  efficacy  is  imperfectly  understood.  It 
acts,  in  part  at  least,  by  excluding  air  (oxygen)  and  water,  the  two  powerful  promoters 
of  fermentation  and  putrefaction. 

1.  Brandy;  Eau-de-vie. — This  is  an  ardent  spirit  obtained  by  the  distillation  of  wine. 
Its  constituents  are  alcohol,  water,  volatile  oil,  a  minute  portion  of  acetic  acid,  cenanthic 
ether,  coloring  matter,  and  tannin.  The  latter  is  said  to  be  derived  from  the  cask  in 
which  the  spirit  has  been  preserved.  The  most  celebrated  of  the  French  Brandies  are 
those  of  Cognac  and  Armagnac.  Pale  brandy  has  a  very  slight  brownish  yellow  tint, 
derived  from  the  cask.  The  high  colored  brandy  usually  found  in  the  shops  of  this  country 
is  artificially  colored.  When  fresh  imported  the  alcoholic  strength  of  brandy  is  usually 
above  proof;  but  by  keeping  it  diminishes.  A  sample  of  pale  brandy,  in  bond,  supplied 
me  by  Mr.  Gassiot,  of  Mark  Lane,  I  found  to  be  T5  over  proof,  and  a  colored  brandy  'J  x! 
over  proof.  But  I  am  informed  that  10  percent,  under  proof  is  the  strength  of  brandy 
as  usually  sold.  Hriliah  brandy  is  extensively  manufactured  and  sold  as  foreign  brai  dy.f 

From  other  ardent  spirits  in  ordinary  use,  brandy  is  distinguished  by  its  cordial  and 
stomachic  properties.  It  is,  therefore,  often  resorted  to  as  a  domestic  remedy  to  r 
spasmodic  pains  and  flatulency,  to  check  vomiting,  especially  sea-sickness,  and  to  give 
temporary  relief  in  some  cases  of  indigestion,  attended  with  pain  after  taking  food.  A 
little  warm  brandy  and  water  with  nutmeg  is  often  a  very  efficacious  remedy  for  slight 
cases  of  diarrhoea  unaccompanied  with  inflammatory  symptoms. 

Burnt  brandy  is  a  popular  remedy  for  diarrhoea. 

(n  the  London  Pharmacopreia  tbere  is,  under  the  name  of  Brandy  Mixture,  (Mistura 
Spiritus  Vini  Gallici,)  an  imitation  of  K^g-l'Tip,  and  as  it  is  a  valuable  stimulant  and 
restorative  it  deserves  a  place  here.  It  consists  of  brandy,  cinnamon  water,  of  each  four 
fluid  ounces,  [a  gill,]  the  yolks  of  twc  eggs,  white  sugar  half  an  ounce,  and  oil  of  cinna- 
mon two  drops.  From  one  to  three  table-spoonfuls  are  given  as  a  dose,  in  extreme  ex- 
haustion from  flooding  or  other  hemorrhages,  and  in  the  latter  stages  of  low  fevers. 

*  Cherries  and  plums  shrivel  when  preserved  in  syrup,  but  remain  plump  in  brandy  :  in  tl)p  lir 
"xosmosis  preponderate?,  because  the  syrup  is  denser  than  the  juice  of  the  fruit ;  in  the  second,  endos- 
ivo.-is,  because  the  juice  is  denser  than  the  brandy:  the  separating  membrane  is  the  skin  or  epicarp  of 
tn.  iVnil. 

t  British  brandy  is  made  by  mixing  80  gallons  of  rectified  spirits  with  7  gallons  of  vinegar,  12  ounces 
of  orris,  toot,  15  Ibs.  of  raisin?,  and  2  Ibs.  of  sulphuric  acid. 

Cognac  brandy  is  often  adulterated  with  Spanish  or  Bordeaux  brandy,  old  neutral-flavored  ruin, 
n-. -tiiicd  spirits.  Hriti.-h  brandy,  cherry-laurel-water,  extract  of  almond  cake,  extract  of  cap.inun, 
grains  of  Paradise,  and  coloi'.rnj  sugar. — L. 


ALCOHOL.  79 


2.  Rum. — This  is  ardent  spirit,  obtained  both  in  the  West  and  East  Indies,  by  distilla- 
tion from  the  fermented  skimmings  of  the  sugar  boiler,  molasses,  the  washings  of  the 
boilers,  and  the  lees  or  spent  wash  of  former  distillations,  called  dunder.     It  is  imported 
into  this  country  in  puncheons.     In  some  parts  of  the  West  India  Islands  it  is  customary      I 
to  put  slices  of  pine-apples  in  the  puncheons  of  rum  ;  hence  the  designation  of  pine-apple 
rum.     Jamaica  rum  is  more  highly  esteemed  than  the  Leeward  Islands  rum.     The  pecu- 
liar flavor  of  rum  depends  on  volatile  oil. 

The  general  effects  and  uses  of  rum  are  similar  to  those  of  brandy.  But  rum  is  con- 
sidered more  heating,  and  more  disposed  to  cause  sweating,  than  the  other  kinds  of  ardent 
spirit,  to  which  it  has  been  popularly  thought  preferable  in  slight  colds,  long-standing 
coughs,  and  rheumatism.*  Of  its  great  value  in  cases  of  extreme  suffering  and  exhaus- 
tion, from  excessive  fatigue  and  privation  of  food,  I  have  already  furnished  evidence,  (see 
p.  26.) 

3.  Gin. — Gin  is  an  ardent  spirit  prepared  from  corn  spirit,  and  flavored  with  Juniper, 
Sweet  Flag,  &c.     It  is  not  allowed  to  be  sent  out  stronger  than  17  per  cent,  under  proof, 
but  is  usually  sold  to  the  trade  at  22  per  cent,  under  proof.     The  retail  dealer  always 
further  reduces  its  strength,  and  flavors  it  with  sugar. 

On  account  of  the  oil  of  juniper  which  it  holds  in  solution,  gin  is  more  powerfully  diu- 
retic than  either  brandy  or  rum  ;  and  hence  it  is  a  more  popular  diuretic  in  dropsical  and 
other  affections  where  an  augmentation  of  the  renal  secretion  is  considered  desirable. 
Moreover,  it  is  frequently  used,  in  preference  to  other  ardent  spirits,  to  promote  men- 
struation. At  the  London  Hospital,  it  is  frequently  administered  medicinally,  as  a  substi- 
tute for  brandy,  to  patients  who  have  been  accustomed  to  it,  and  whose  maladies  require 
the  use  of  some  alcoholic  stimulantf 

4.  Whiskey. — This  is  a  corn  spirit,  and  agrees  in  most  of  its  properties  with  gin  ;  from 
which  it  differs  in  its  peculiar  smoky  flavor  arid  odor:  'these  it  acquires  from  the  malt, 
which  is  dried  by  turf  fires.     But  the  smell  of  burned  turf,  called  peat-reek  in  Scotland, 
"  which  was  originally  prized  as  a  criterion  of  whiskey  made  from  pure  malt,  moderately 
fermented  and  distilled  with  peculiar  care,  has  of  late  years  lost  its  value,  since  the  artifice 
of  impregnating  bad  raw  grain  whiskey  with  peat-smoke  has  been  extensively  practised," 
(Ure.)t     The  peculiar  flavor  of  whiskey  is  owing  "  to  a  volatile  oil  which  exists  in  the 
barley  from  which  the  spirits  have  been  made,"  (Thomson.)^     Highland  whiskey  is  some- 
times sold  11  per  cent,  over  proof.     The  greater  reputation  of  the  Highland  over  Lowland 
whiskey  has  been  ascribed  to  the  use  of  porter-yeast  by  the  Lowland  distillers,  which  is 
said  to  deteriorate  the  flavor. 

5.  Arrack  or  Rack. — This  is  a  spirit  obtained  from  different  sources  in  various  parts  of 
the  East.     In  Batavia  it  is  procured  by  distillation  from  fermented  infusions  of  rice,  whence 
it  has  been  termed  Rice  Spirit.     In  Ceylon,  it  is  obtained  by  distillation  from  fermented 

*  They  talk  of  a  common  experiment  here,  [Jamaica,]  that  any  animal's  liver  put  into  Rum  gro\vs      | 
soft,  and  not  so  in  Brandy,  whence  they  argue  this  last  less  wholesome  than  that ;  but  their  Experiment, 
if  true,  proves  no  such  thing.     I  think  it  may  be  said  to  have  all  the  good  and  bad  qualities  of  Brandy, 
or  any  fermented  or  vinous  spirit,"  (Sir  Hans  Sloane's  Jamaica,  vol.  i.  p.  xxx.     Lond.  1707.) 

•f  The  gin  which  is  in  general  use  in  this  country  is  an  adulterated  article,  having,  for  the  most  part, 
the  cheapest  kind  of  whiskey,  with  oil  of  juniper  and  oil  of  vitriol  added  to  it.  In  addition  to  these, 
nil  of  cassia,  oil  of  turpentine,  oil  of  caraways,  oil  of  almonds,  sulphuric  ether,  extract  of  capsicum, 
extract  grains  of  Paradise,  orris  root,  angelica  root,  water,  sugar,  &c.,  are  used  for  the  same 
purpose  — L. 

^  Dictionary  of  Arts,  Manufactures,  and  Mines,  p.  399.     Lon  3.  1839. 

§  Chemistry  of  Organic  Bodies— Vegetables,  p.  481. 


80  ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLES. 

cocoa-nut  toddy,  (by  some  called  Palm  Wine.)  Pine-apples,  steeped  in  it,  impart  a  most 
exquisite  flavor  to  the  spirit;  and,  by  age,  it  becomes  a  delicious  liqueur,  which  is  unri- 
valled in  the  world  for  making  nectarial  punch.  Arrack  is  said  to  be  distinguished  from 
the  other  ardent  spirits  by  its  stimulating  and  narcotic  properties.  It  is  sometimes  used 
'.i  this  country  to  impart  an  agreeable  flavor  to  punch.  A  mock  arrack  is. made  by  dis- 
solving twenty  grains  of  benzoic  acid  in  two  pints  of  rum. 

6.  Liqueurs  and  Compounds. — By  spirit  dealers,  British  compounded  spirits  are  denom- 
inated Compounds,  while  Foreign  compounded  spirits  are  called  Liqueurs.  Both  classes 
of  liquors  consist  of  spirits  sweetened  and  otherwise  flavored. 

A  great  variety  of  Liqueurs  is  imported.  In  France  they  are  called  Ratafias,*  and  some 
of  them  also  Cremes.  Kirsclienwasser  or  Kirschwasser  (literally  Cherry-water)  is  obtained 
by  distillation  from  the  fermented  juice  of  a  black  cherry  (Cerasus  auium  macrocarpa, 
De  Cand.)  cultivated  in  Switzerland  and  in  some  parts  of  France,  (in  the  Vosges  and  the 
Foret-Noire.)  Maraschino  di  Zara  is  procured  in  Dalmatia  from  a  peculiar  variety  of 
cherry,  called  Marasquin  (Cerasus  Caproniana  var.  «  Monlmorencyana,  De  Cand.?) 
Cura$oa  is  prepared  by  digesting  bitter  orange-peel  (or  orange  berries,)  cloves,  and  cin- 
namon, in  old  brandy,  to  which  sugar  dissolved  in  water  is  subsequently  added.f 

The  following  list  of  Compounds  or  British  Liqueurs  usually  kept  at  the  gin-shops  of 
tliS.s  metropolis  has  been  furnished  me  by  the  proprietor  of  one  of  these  establishments  : — 


COMPOUNDS,  OR  BRITISH  LIQUEURS. 


Under  Proof. 
Gin     ............     17 

Gin     ............    22 

Mint  (Peppermint)     .......    64 

Cloves         .......... 

Hitlers     ........... 


Noyeau 
Cinnamon 


Under  Proof. 


Tent 64 

Aniseed 
Caraway 

Lovage •    . 

Usquebaugh  (seldom  asked  for) 
Orange  Cordial      (ditto)    .. 
Citron  Cordial        (ditto) 
Rum  Shrub 


Those  marked  at  64  under  proof,  though  usually  permitted  to  the  retailers  at  that 
strength,  are  usually  much  nearer  80  under  proof.  J: 

9.  THE  OILY  ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLE. 

(Oleaginous  Aliments.) 

The  substances  usually  denominated  oils  are  of  two  kinds,  fixed  and  volatile.  The  first 
cannot  be  distilled  with  water,  and  when  dropped  on  paper  communicate  to  it  a  perma- 
nently greasy  stain.  The  second  are  volatile,  and  communicate  to  paper  a  stain,  which 
can  be  removed  by  moderate  warmth. 

1.  OF  THE  FIXED  OILS. — Under  this  head  are  included  all  fatty  substances  employed  as 
food,  whether  obtained  from  animals  or  vegetables.  To  this,  therefore,  belong  the  sub- 
stances popularly  known  as  Fat,  Suet,  Tallow,  Lard  or  Axunge,  Marrow,  Grease,  Baiter, 
Blubber,  and  Fixed  Oil. 

The  vegetable  fixed  oils  reside  principally  in. the  seed;  either  in  the  embryo  itself,  as 
in  Ahiiomls,  Rape-seed,  Mustard-seed,  Filberts,  Walnuts,  Earth-nuts,  and  Linseed  ;- 


*  Ratafa,  like  the  verb  ratify,  is  derived  from  the  Latin  words  ratum  and  fio,  to  make  firm,  or  to  con- 
firm. By  Ratafia,  therefore,  was  originally  meant  a  liquid  drank  at  the  ratification,  confirmation,  or  set- 
tlement of  an  agreement  or  bargain.  The  practice  of  drinking  on  these  occasions  is  by  no  means  of 
modern  origin. 

t  Formulae  for  the  preparation  of  the  above  and  other  Liqueurs  (Ratafias)  are  given  in  MM.  Henry 
and  Guibourt's  Pharmacopee  Raisonnee. 

t  Appendix,  S. 


FIXED  OILS  OR  FATS. 


81 


in  the  perisperm  or  mlbumen  which  surrounds  the  embryo,  as  in  the  Cocoa-nut,  Poppy- 
seed,  and  Nutmeg.  The  pericarp  or  fruit-coats  rarely  contain  fixed  oil.  Olives,  however, 
constitute  a  remarkable  exception  to  this  statement. 

In  animals,  fat  is  lodged  in  the  cells  of  what  is  called  adipose  tissue — a  structure  analo- 
gous to,  if,  indeed,  it  be  not  identical  with,  common  cellular  membrane.  A  stratum  of 
this  tissue,  of  variable  thickness,  lies  beneath  the  skin.  A  considerable  accumulation  of  it, 
containing  a  very  firm  kind  of  fat,  exists  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  kidneys.  In  tho 
omentum,  (popularly  called  the  caul,)  the  orbits,  and  various  other  parts  of  the  animal 
body,  depositions  of  fat  take  place. 

The  quantity  of  oil  or  fat  procurable  from  different  vegetable  and  animal  substances  is 
as  follows : — 

QUANTITY  OF  OIL  OR  FAT  YIELDED  BY  100  PARTS  BY  WEIGHT  OF  THE  FOLLOW- 
ING ALIMENTARY  SUBSTANCES 

Oil  or  Fat.  Authority. 

a.  VEGETABLES. 

Filberts     .......  .60 

Olives  (including  pericarp,  stone,  and  seed," 

O4ive-seeds  • 54 

Walnuts   .        .        .        .         .        .        '        .        .        .50 

Earth-nut  (Arachis  hypogceci) 47 

Cocoa  nut  (nucleus  or  fleshy  part) 47 

Almonds 46 

White  Mustard 36 

Plums 33 

Linseed 22 

Black  Mustard .18 

Grape-stones  (seeds)        .        .        .        .  .        .    11-4  to  18  5 


Schiibler. 

Sieuve. 

Ditto. 

Schvibler. 

Pay  en  and  Henry  fils. 

Buchner. 

Schiibler. 

Ditto. 

Ditto. 

Ditto. 

Ditto. 

Julia- Fontenelle. 


iuaize        ...                  .... 
Dates  (fleshy  part  of  the  fruit)  .... 

6.  ANIMAL. 
Yolk  of  Eggs    .                               ... 
Ordinary  Meat  (including  cellular  tissue) 
Caviare  (fresh  unpressed) 
Liver  of  the  Ox  (parenchyma  of  )    . 
Milk,  Cows'      
"     Women's        .        .        .        .        . 

.      0-2 

.    28-75 
.    14-3 
.      4-3 
.      3-89 
.      3-13 
.      3-55 
.      0-11 

Reinsch. 

Prout. 
Lie  big. 
John. 
Braconnot. 

O.  Henry  and  Chevallier. 

French  Gelatine  Commission, 
i,  Hydrogen,  and  Oxygen, 

S  OR  FATS. 

Nitrogen.           Authority. 
0-288            Saussure. 
0-353            Ditto. 
0-296            Ditto. 
0-543            Ditto. 
0                Berard. 
0                Ditto. 
0                Chevreul. 
0               Ditto. 

compounds  of  two,  three, 

"     Goats' 

3-32 

"     Ewes'     4-20 
Bones  of  Sheeps'  feet      .                5-55 
Ox-head    .                        .....     11-54 

The  elementary  constituents  of  the  fatty  substances  are  Carboi 
to  which,  in  some  instances,  Saussure  adds  Nitrogen. 

ULTIMATE  COMPOSITION  OF  SOME  FIXED  OIL 

Carbon.           Hydrogen.          Oxygen. 
Almond  Oil      77-403            11-481             10-828 

Olive  Oil  (liquid  part  or  tieine) 
Ditto  (solid  part  or  margarine) 
Walnut  Oil  

.    .    76-036 
.     .    82-170 
.    .    79-774 

11-545            12-068 
11-232              6302 
10-570              9-122 
12-4                11-5 
17-6                16-8 
11-146             9-756 
11-700             9-304 

its  are  mixtures  or 

Train  Oil     

.    .    76-1 

Butter 

65-6 

Hog's  Lard 

79-098 

Mutton  Suet         .              . 

.    .    78-996 

The  fixed  oils  or  fats  emu 

oved  as  alimer 

or  more  neutral,  fatty,  saponififeble  principles,  viz.,  Stearine,  Margarine,  Oleine,  Bulyrine, 
Caprine,  Caproine,  Hircine,  and  Phocenine.  Each  of  these  fatty  principles  is  convertible, 
by  a  caustic  alkali,  *nto  a  fatty  acid,  a  saccharine  substance  called  glycerine,  or  the  oxide 
of  gtycerule,  (see  p.  55,)  and  water.  They  are  probably,  therefore,  hydrated  salts  of  gly- 
cerine. 

6 


82 


ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLES. 


1.  Stearine  (Stearate  of  Glycerine')       yields  Stearic  acid     4-  Glycerine. 

2.  Margarine  (Margarate  of  Glycerine)  "  Margaric  acid  -j-  Glycerine. 

3.  Ole'me  (Oleate  of' Glycerine)  "  Oleic  acid        4-  Glycerine. 

4.  Butyrine  (Butyrate  of  Glycerine)  "  Butyric  acid    -j-  Glycerine. 

5.  Caprine  (Caprate  of  Glycerine)  "  Capric  acid      -[~  Glycerine. 

6.  Caproine  (Caprdate  of  Glycerine)  "  Caproic  acid    -{-Glycerine. 

7.  Hircine  (Hircate  of  Glycerine)  "  Hirsic  acid       -j-  Glycerine. 

8.  Phocenine  (Phocenate  'of  Glycerin?  "  Phocenic  acid  -f-  Glycerine 

Stearic,  margaric,  and  oleic  acids,  are  without  smell,  and  as  they  cannot  be  distilled 
with  water,  are  called  fixed  acids.  The  other  acids  are  odorous,  volatile,  and  acrid.  The 
peculiar  smell,  which  most  fats  have,  is  due  to  one  or  more  of  these  volatile  oily  acids. 

The  fixed  oils  and  fats  are  difficult  and  slow  of  digestion ;  more  so  than  any  other  ali- 
mentary principles.  This  fact  has  long  been  familiar  to  dyspeptics ;  but  it  has  of  late 
years  been  confirmed  in  a  very  satisfactory  manner,  by  the  experiments  of  Dr.  Beaumont,* 
made  on  a  Canadian  who  had  a  permanent  artificial  opening  in  the  stomach,  produced 
by  a  gun-shot  wound  at  about  two  inches  below  the  left  nipple.  By  means  of  this  aper- 
ture, Dr.  Beaumont  was  enabled  to  introduce  into  the  stomach  various  articles  of  diet, 
and  from  time  to  time  to  withdraw  them,  in  order  to  examine  the  changes  they  underwent. 
He  was  also  able  to  extract  the  gastric  juice,  and  to  perform  various^xperiments  on  its 
digestive  powers.  He  found  that  this  secretion  had  a  very  slow  and  feeble  action  on 
fatty  matters,  whether  contained  in  the  stomach  or  otherwise. 

The  mean  time  required  for  the  chymification  of  fatty  substances  is,  according  to  !);• 
Beaumont's  experiments,  as  follows : — 


ARTICLES 
OF 
DIET. 

MEAN  TIME  OF  THE  CHYMIFICATION. 

IN  STOMACH. 

IN   PHIALS. 

Preparation. 

H.    M. 

Preparation. 

H.   M. 

Butter 

Melted 
Boiled 
Boiled 

3    33 
4    30 
5    30 

Divided 
Entire  piece 
Raw 

10    0 
12    0 
60    0 

Mutton  Suet     .    .    . 
Beef  Suet  (fresh)  .    . 
Olive  Oil     .... 

The  first  change  which  the  animal  fat  suffers  when  swallowed,  consists  in  its  conver- 
sion into  liquid  oil  by  the  warmth  of  the  stomach.  Very  gradually  this  oil  is  converted 
into  a  creamy-looking  chyme,  containing  myriads  of  oily  globules,  visible  to  the  eye  when 
aided  by  a  microscope ;  so  that  the  oil  is,  in  fact,  not  in  solution,  but,  like  the  butter  in 
milk,  or  the  oil  in  an  emulsion,  is  held  in  suspension  merely.  Hence  oils  or  fats,  if  s-wal- 
lowed  in  the  form  of  an  emulsion  or  milk,  are  more  readily  digested  than  if  taken  in  tne 
raw  or  undivided  state. 

I  have  repeatedly  subjected  fatty  substances  to  the  action  of  an  artificial  digestive 
liquor,f  which  readily  dissolved  coagulated  white  of  egg  or  beefsteak.  In  no  case,  how- 
ever, have  I  been  able  to  get  the  fat  or  oil  in  solution.  When  yolk  of  egg  boiled  hard 
was  submitted  to  its  influence,  the  albuminous  matter  was  readily  dissolved,  but  not  so 
Jie  yellow  fat  of  the  yolk,  which  was  merely  diffused  through  the  liquor,  rendering  it 
creamy  or  yellowis.i  white,  and  opaque. 

*  Experiments  and  Observations  on  the  Gastric  Juice,  and  the  Physiology  of  Digestion,  by  Wm.  Beau- 
mont, M.D.    Reprinted  from  the  Plattsburg  edition  by  Andrew  Combe,  M.D.    Edinb.  1838. 
t  Sec  p.  35,  foot-note,  for  the  mode  of  preparing  this  liquor. 


FIXED  OILS  OR  FATS.  83 


Thus  minutely  divided,  and  perhaps  otherwise  somewhat  changed,  fat  or  fixed  oil 
becomes  absorbed  by  the  chyliferous  vessels ;  for  it  is  well  known  that  the  opacity  of  the 
chyle  depends  entirely  or  principally  on  the  presence  of  myriads  of  minute  oily  globules, 
which  readily  dissolve  in  ether. 

The  chymification  of  fatty  substances  is  assisted  by  the  presence  of  bile  in  the  stomach. 
*  Biie, ;  says  Dr.  Beaumont,  "is  seldom  fcund  in  the  stomach,  except  under  peculiar  cir- 
cumstances. I  have  observed,"  he  adds,  "that  when  the  use  of  fat  or  oily  food  has  been 
persevered  in  for  some  time,  there  is  generally  the  presence  of  bile  in  the  gastric  fluids ?' 
The  popular  notion  that  oily  or  fatty  foods  "  cause  bile"  in  the  stomach,  is  not,  therefore, 
so  groundless  as  medical  men  have  generally  supposed.  From  Dr.  Beaumont's  observa- 
tions and  experiments,  it  appears  that  oil  is  slowly,  and  with  great  difficulty,  acted  on  by 
the  gastric  juice ;  but  that  the  admixture  of  bile  greatly  accelerates  chymification.  Per- 
haps the  alkaline  property  of  the  bile  partly  contributes  to  this  effect. 

In  many  dyspeptic  individuals  fat  does  not  •become  properly  chymified.  It  floats  on 
the  contents  of  the  stomach  in  the  form  of  an  oily  pellicle,  becoming  odorous,  and  some- 
times highly  rancid,  and,  in  this  state,  excites  heartburn,  most  disagreeable  nausea,  arid 
eructations,  or  at  times  actual  vomiting.  It  appears  to  me  that  the  greater  tendency 
which  some  oily  substances  have  than  others  to  disturb  the  stomach,  depends  on  the 
greater  facility  with  which  they  evolve  volatile  fatty  acids,  which  are  for  the  most  part 
exceedingly  acrid  and  irritating.  The  unpleasant  and  distressing  feelings  excited  in  many 
dyspeptics  by  the  ingestion  of  mutton  fat,  butter,  and  fish-oils,  are  in  this  way  readily 
accounted  for ;  since  all  these  substances  contain  each  one  or  more  volatile  acids  to  which 
thej  respectively  owe  their  odor.  Thus  mutton  fat  contains  hircic  acid ;  butter  no  less 
than  three  volatile  fatty  acids,  viz.  butyric,  capric,  aad  caproic  acids;  while  train  oil  con- 
tains phocenic  acid. 

Fats,  by  exposure  to  the  air,  become  rancid,  and  in  this  state  are  exceedingly  obnoxious 
to  the  digestive  organs.  Their  injuripus  qualities  depend  in  part  on  the  presence  of  vola- 
tile acids,  and  in  part  also  on  other  volatile  but  non-acid  substances.  The  following  table 
shows  the  differences  in  composition  between  fresh  and  rancid  lard : 

COMPOSITION  OF  FRESH  AND  RANCID  LARD. 
Fresh  Lard.  Rancid  Lard. 

Stearine.  Stearjne  [Margarine  T]  and  Oleine. 

Margarine.  Volatile  non-acid  matter,  having  a  rancid  odor. 

Oleine.  Caproic  (1)  acid. 

Another  volatile  acid. 

Oleic,  margaric,  and  perhaps  stearic  acids. 

Yellow  coloring  matter. 

Non-acid  non-volatile  matter,  soluble  in  water. 

The  influence  of  heat  on  fatty  substances  effects  various  chemical  changes  in  them, 
whereby  they  are  rendered  more  difficult  of  digestion,  and  more  obnoxious  to  the  stomach. 
Hence  those  culinary  operations  in  which  fat  or  oil  is  subjected  to  high  temperatures,  are 
objectionable  for  the  preparation  of  foods  for  persons  with  weak  stomachs.  On  this 
account,  dyspeptics  should  be  prohibited  from  employing  foods  prepared  by  frying  ;  as  in 
this  operation  the  heat  is  usually  applied  by  the  intermedium  of  boiling  oil  or  fat.  Fixed 
oils  give  off,  while  boiling,  carbonic  acid,  a  little  inflammable  vapor,  and  an  acrid  volatile 
oi  called  Acroleine  or  Acroleon,*  while  the  fatty  acids  of  the  oils  are,  in  part,  set  free.  It 

*  Acroleine  is  probably  generated  by  the  decomposition  of  the  glycerine.  Its  vapor  most  powerfully 
and  painfully  affects  the  eyes.  I  have  known  a  whole  class  of  medical  students  obliged  to  leave  the 
lecture-room  to  avoid  the  irritating  effects  of  acroleine  vapor  developed  during  the  distillation  of  a 
couple  of  ounces  of  olive  oil. 


84  %  ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLES. 

has  always  appeared  to  me  that  cooked  butter  proves  more  obnoxious  to  the  stomach 
than  cooked  olive  oil.  This  I  ascribe  to  the  facility  with  which,  under  the  influence  jf 
heat,  the  acrid  volatile  acids  of  butter  are  set  free. 

The  fat  of  ealt-pork  and  of  bacon  is  less  injurious  to  so^e  dyspeptics  than  fresh  animal 
fats.  A  somewhat  similar  observation  has  been  made  by  others.  "  There  is  one  form  of 
impaired  digestion,"  says  Dr. Combe,*  "in  which  the  fat  of  bacon  is  digested  with  perfect 
ease,  where  many  other  apparently  more  appropriate  articles  of  food  oppress  the  stomach 
for  hours."  This  must  depend  on  some  change  effected  in  the  fat  by  the  process  of  curing 
it,  for,  in  the  cases  which  have  fallen  under  my  observation,  the  fat  of  salt-pork  or  of  bacon 
was  the  only  kind  of  fat  which  did  not  disturb  the  "digestive  organs.  Dr.  Combe,  however, 
suggests  that  it  may  depend  on  the  presence  of  bile  in  the  stomach.  But  on  this  expla- 
nation, however,  other  fats  should  be  equally  digestible,  which,  according  to  my  experi- 
ments, they  are  not.f 

Fixed  oil  or  fat  is  more  difficult  of  digestion,  and  more  obnoxious  to  the  stomach,  than 
any  other  alimentary  principle.  Indeed,  in  some  more  or  less  obvious  or  concealed  form, 
I  believe  it  will  be  found  the  offending  ingredient  in  nine-tenths  of  the  dishes  which 
disturb  weak  stomachs.  Many  djspeptics  who  have  most  religiously  avoided  the  use  of 
oil  or  fat  in  its  obvious  or  ordinary  state,  (as  fat  meat,  marrow,  butler,  and  o*7,)  unwittingly 
employ  it  in  some  more  concealed  form,  and,  as  I  have  frequently  witnessed,  have  suffered 
therefrom.  Such  individuals  should  eschew  the  yolk  of  eggs,  livers  (of  quadrupeds,  poultry, 
and  fish,)  and  brains,  all  of  which  abound  in  oily  matter.  Milk,  and  especially  cream, 
disagree  with  many  persons,  or,  as  they  term  it,  "  lie  heavy  at  the  stomach,"  in  conse- 
quence of  the  butter  they  contain.  Rich  cheese  likewise  contains  butter,  and  on  that 
account  is  apt  to  disturb  the  stomach.  Fried  dishes  of  all  kinds  are  abominations  to  the 
dyspeptic,  on  account  of  the  oil  or  fat  used  in  their  preparation.  Melted  butter,  buttered 
toast,  butter-cakes,  pastry,  marrow-puddings,  and  suet-puddings,  are,  for  the  like  reason, 
obnoxious  to  the  stomach.  Several  kinds  of  Jish,  as  salmon,  herrings,  sprats,  and  eels, 
abound  in  oil, 'and  on  this  account  form  objectionable  foods  for  the  dyspeptic.  Moreover, 
the  mode  of  cooking  (frying)  some  fishes,  and  the  condiment  (melted  butter)  used  with 
them,  often  render  this  kind  of  animal  food  injurious.  The  oily  seeds,  as  nuts,  walnuts, 
and  cocoa-nuts,  are  very  indigestible.  Chocolate  prepared  from  the  oily  seeds  of  the  Theo- 
broma  Cacao  is,  therefore,  not  a  fit  article  of  food  for  a  delicate  stomach.  Hashes,  stews, 
and  broths,  frequently  j»?ove  injurious,  from  the  oil  or  fat  contained  in  them.  In  preparing 
broths  for  such  persons,  therefore,  the  fat  should  be  carefully  removed  by  skimming. 

Oleaginous  aliments  have  been  until  very  recently  regarded  as  highly  nutritious ;  though 
alone,  it  is  well  known,  they  are  incapable  of  supporting  life.  But  Liebeg  asserts  that, 
like  other  non-nitrogenized  foods,  they  are  incapable  of  transformation  into  food,  and  are, 
therefore,  unfitted  for  forming  organized  or  living  tissues,  and  that  they  merely  serve  for 
supporting  the  process  of  respiration.  I  have,  however,  already  fully  discussed  Liebrg's 
opinions  on  this  subject  in  a  former  part  of  this  work,  (see  pp.  16 — 27,)  to  which,  there- 
fore, I  must  refer  the  reader  for  further  information.  I  have  likewise  noticed  the  impor- 
tance of  the  fatty  foods  in  enabling  the  inhabitants  of  frozen  regions  to  resist  the  effects 
of  extreme  cold,  (see  pp.  8 — 11.) 

In  the  Report  made  to  the  French  Academy  of  Sciences,  in  the  name  of  the  Gelatine 

*  See  the  foot-note  at  p.  87  of  his  edition  of  Dr.  Beaumont's  Experiments. 

f  We  have  treated  many  cases  of  cholera  infantum,  where  every  thing  would  be  rejected  from  the 
stomach,  except  salt-pork,  or  fat  bacon,  rare-broiled  and  given  in  small- quantities  at  a  time.  Many 
cases  have  recovered  under  such  a  diet,  where  vegetable  farinaceous  food  could  not  be  retained,  OP.  if 
retained,  passed  through  the  alimentary  canal  undigested. — L. 


FIXED  OILS  OR  FATS.  85 


Commission,*  it  is  stated  that  animals  fed  on  fatty  substances  (fresh  butter,  lard,  and  the 
fat  which  surrounds  the  bullock's  heart)  refuse,  after  some  time,  to  take  this  food,  and 
ultimately  die  of  inanition.f  During  life,  they  exhaled  a  strong  fatty  odor,  and  though 
dying  of  inanition,  were  in  a  remarkable  state  of  embonpoint.  On  a  post-mortem  exam- 
ination, all  the  tissues  and  organs  were  found  infiltrated  with  fat,  and  the  liver  was  in  the 
state  called  by  anatomists  fatty. 

In  the  preceding  part  (p.  27)  of  this  work  I  have  mentioned  the  facts  adduced  by  Liebig, 
to  prove  that  fat  may  be  formed  in  the  animal  body  from  starch  and  sugar.  Very  recently; 
however,  MM.  Dumas  and  PayenJ  have  denied  the  correctness  of  Liebig's  conclusion  ; 
and  have  related  some  experiments  which  have  led  them  to  infer  that  animals  derive 
their  fat  from  plants.  Maize,  they  state,  contains  9  per  cent,  of  a  yellow  oil ;  so  that  the 
goose  referred  to  by  Liebig  (see  ante,  p.  27,)  in  eating  24  Ibs.  of  maize  received  2-16  Ibs. 
of  fatty  matter.  "  It  is  not  astonishing,  therefore,  4hat  the  animal  should  yield  3J  Ibs., 
when  we  reckon  that  which  it  contained  originally." 

Hitherto  I  have  not  alluded  to  the  ulterior  changes  which  the  fixed  oils  or  fats  suffer  in 
the  animal  economy.  On  this  point,  physiology  is  very  barren  in  facts.  I  have  already 
stated  (see  p.  82)  that  the  chyle  contains,  floating  in  it,  globules  of  oil  visible  by  the  aid 
of  a  microscope.  In  the  blood,  however,  the  oil  or  fat§  does  not  exist  in  a  free  state,  but 
is  intimately  combined  with  some  of  the  other  constituents  of  the  serum ;  while  its  pro- 
perties are  different  from  those  of  the  chyle-oil.  It  has,  therefore,  undergone  some  im- 
portant modifications. 

From  the  blood,  the  adipose  and  nervous  tissues  must  derive  their  oily  or  fatty  consti- 
tuents. The  peculiar  fatty  matters  of  the  brain  pre-exist  in  the  blood. 

Obesity  and  leanness  depend,  the  one  on  excessive,  the  other  on  deficient,  quantity  of 
oleaginous  matters  in  the  system.  Dr.  Prout  also  very  properly  refers  gall-stones,  which 
consist  of  a  fatty  matter  called  cholesterine,  to  the  mal-assimilation  of  the  oleaginous 
principle. 

Oleaginous  foods  often  agree  so  remarkably  well  with  diabetic  patients,  "  that  some 
have  gone  so  far  as  to  propose  them  as  remedies.  When  freely  taken,  they  usually  cause 
a  flow  of  saliva,  and  thus  diminish  the  urgent  thirst.  When  they  agree,  also,  they  give 
a  sensation  of  satisfaction  and  support  to  the  stomach,  which  other  alimentary  substances 
do  not.  Perhaps  butter  is  the  most  agreeable  form  in  which  they  can  be  taken,  and  this, 
under  proper  circumstances,  may  be  taken  freely.  When  oleaginous  matters  disagree, 
as  is  sometimes  the  case,  they  should  be  carefully  shunned."|| 

1.  Olive  Oil ;  Sweet  Oil— This  is  obtained  by  expression  from  olives.  In  France,  the  finest 
oil  is  procured  by  bruising  them  in  the  mill  immediately  after  they  are  gathered,  and  sub- 
mitting the  paste  to  pressure.  The  first  product,  termed  Virgin  Oil,  (Huile  Vierge,)  is 
greenish,  and  is  much  sought  after  by  connoisseurs,  for  its  superior  flavor.  Provence  Oil, 

\          *  Complex  Rendus,  Aout,  1841. 

f  To  the  general  statement  in  the  text  two  exceptions  were  reported  by  the  Commissioners.  One 
dog  ate  daily  125  grammes  [1929J  troy  grs.]  of  the  fat  which  surrounds  the  bullock's  heart,  and  at  the 
en.  of  a  twe.vemonth  was  in  perfect  health.  Another  dog  took  190  grammes  [2932i  troy  grs.]  daily, 
jj  ana  was  :n  p  rfect  health  at  the  end  of.  six  months'  trial.  But  as  this  kind  of  fat  contains  cellular  tissue 
and  fragments  of  muscular  nbre,  cy>th  nitrogenous  substances,  these  results  do  not  invalidate  the  general 
etateni  nt  made  in  the  text,  and  which  is  founded  on  the  results  obtained  by  feeding  animals  on 
pure  fat. 

J  Connies  Rendus,  Oct.  24, 1842.     Also,  Annals  of  Chymistry,  Nov.  11, 1842 

§  Chemists  have  detected  in  the  blood  the  following  fatty  substances :— Cholesterine,  Oleic  and  Maf- 
ifaric  Acidj,  Serolin,  and  Cerebrate,  (Cen.br    Acid.) 
||  Dr.  Prout,  op.  supra  cit.  p. 43,  foot-note. 


86  ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLES. 


the  produce  of  Aix,  (Huile  d'Aix  en  Provence,)  is  one  of  the  most  esteemed  kinds. 
Florence  Oil  is  a  fine  kind  of  olive  oil  imported  from  Leghorn  in  flasks  surrounded  by  a 
kind  of  network,  formed  by  the  leaves  of  a  monocotyledonous  plant.  These  are  the 
kinds  of  ot'.ve  oil  in  most  frequent  use  at  the  table  for  salads,  (hence  they  are  called  Salad 
Oils.)  Lucca  Oil  is  imported  in  jars  holding  nineteen  gallons  each.  Gcnra  Oil  is  a  fine 
kind.  Gallipoli  Oil  is  imported  in  casks :  it  constitutes  the  largest  po.-tion  of  the  olive 
01.  brought  to  England.  Sicily  Oil  is  of  inferior  quality.  Spanish  Oil  is  the  worst.  The 
foot  deposited  by  olive  oil  is  ussd  for  oiling  machinery,  urrler  the  naive  of  Droppings  of 
Sweet  Oil. 

Olive  Oil  consists  of  Oleine  and  Margarine.  Ir.  cold  weather,  the  latter  constituent 
congeals  in  the  form  of  white  or  yellowish  globules.  The  following  table  shows  the  rela- 
tive proportion  of  oleine  and  margarine  in  olite  and  almond  oils : — 

Oleine.        Margarine. 

Olive  Oil 72  28 

Almond  Oil 76  24 

As  olive  oil  contains  somewhat  more  margarine  than  almond  oil  does,  it  is  more  apt  to 
congeal  in  cold  weather. 

In  England,  the  dietetical  uses  of  olive  oil  are  comparatively  limited ;  being  principally 
confined  to  its  mixture  with  salads.  It  is  also  employed  in  fring  fish.  In  Spain,  and 
some  other  countries,  it  is  frequently  employed  as  a  substitute  for  butter.  Taken  in 
large  quantities,  it  acts  as  a  mild  laxative. 

The  difficult  digestibility  of  oil  has  been  already  adverted  to,  (see  p.  82.)  Some 
writers  on  dietetics  are  of  opinion  that,  taken  as  a  condiment,  with  salad,  it  promotes  the 
digestibility  of  the  latter.  But  I  do  not  coincide  with  them.  The  statement  is,  a  priori, 
improbable,  while  the  facts  adduced  in  support  of  it  are  insufficient  to  prove  it  Raw 
oil,  as  taken  with  salad,  is  less  likely  to  disturb  the  stomach  than  the  same  or  other  oily 
or  fatty  substances  when  cooked;  for  while,  on  the  one  hand,  the  freshest  and  sweetest 
oil  is  generally  selected  for  employment  at  the  table  in  the  raw  state,  so  on  the  other,  oil 
which  has  been  subjected  to  heat,  as  in  various  culinary  operations,  is  rendered  more 
difficult  of  digestion,  (see  p.  83.)  Fresh  olive  oil  I  believe  to  be  less  obnoxious  to  the 
stomach  than  some  other  oily  or  fatty  substances,  and  which  I  ascribe  to  its  not  contain- 
ing any  free  volatile  acid,  (see  p.  83.)* 

2.  Butter. — As  usually  met  with,  this  substance  contains  about  one-sixth  of  its  \vduht 
of  butter-milk.f  Cow's  butter,  according  to'  Bromeis,J  has  the  following  composition  : — 

COMPOSITION  OF  BUTTER. 

M:\rganUe  of  glycerine  [Margarine] 68 

Butyroleateoi  glycerine  [Oleine]  30 

Butyrate  [lluiyrine,]  caproate  [Coproinc,]  and  caprate  of  glycerine  [Caprine}      .          2 

Butter  100 

The  s?.mo  authority  gives  the  following  as  the  formulas  for  the  fatty  acids  of  but- 
ter :— 

*  Olive  oil  is  employed  extensively  in  the  manufacture  of  soaps,  uijguents,  and  plasters  ;  also  for  lubri- 
cating machinery,  as  well  as  for  culinary  purposes.  In  1832,  5,000  tuns  of  olive  oil  were  imported  into 
Great  Britain  ;  and  in  1830,  8,524  tuns— the  tun  being  4  hogsheads,  or  252  wine  gallons.  The  importation 
into  the  United  States,  in  1840,  was  estimated  at  §96,000.— L. 

t  Thomson's  Chemistry  of  Animal  Bodies,  p.  430.     1843. 

t  Journal  de  Pharmacie,  3™  Ser.  t.  ii.    Aoiit,  1842. 


FIXED  OILS  OR  FATS.  87 


COMPOSITION  OF  THE  FATTY   ACIDS  OF  BUTTER. 

.        C™  H33  O=» 

.        C34  R30  O< 

C«  H6  O3 

Q2  H9  O* 

.        CIS  Hi*  Q3 


MargaricAcid 
Butyroleic  Acid 
Butyric  Acid     . 
Caproic  Acid     . 
CapricAcid       . 


The  acid  called  by  Bromeis  butyroleic  acid  was  obtained  from  the  oil  (pleine  of 
Chevreul)  which  he  had  extracted  from  butter  by  pressure. 

Butter  is  employed  rather  as  a  condiment  than  as  a  direct  alimentary  matter.  Its 
dietetical  properties  I  have  already  noticed;  (pp.  83  and  84.)  Its  odor  depends  on  the 
volatile  fatty  acids  :  to  the  facility  with  which  these  are  set  free,  I  have  before  ascribed 
its  greater  tendency  to  disorder  the  stomach  than  some  other  fats.  When  rendered 
rancid  by  keeping,  or  empyreumatic  by  heat,  it  is  exceedingly  injurious  to  the  dyspeptic, 
(pp.  83-84) 

In  the  Report  of  the  Gelatine  Commission  of  the  French  Academy  of  Sciences,  it  is 
stated  that  a  dog,  fed  on  fresh  butter  only,  continued  to  eat  it  irregularly  for  68  days. 
"  He  died  subsequently  of  inanition,  although  in  a  remarkable  state  of  embonpoint.  Dur- 
ing the  whole  of  the  experiment  he  exhaled  a  strong  odor  of  butyric  acid,  his  hair  felt 
greasy,  and  his  skin  was  unctuous  and  covered  with  a  fatty  layer.  At  the  autopsy  all  the 
tissues  and  organs  were  found  infiltrated  with  fat.  The  liver  was  in  the  state  called,  in 
pathological  anatomy,  fatly.  By  analysis,  a  very  large  -quantity  of  stearine  [margarine  ]] 
but  little  or  no  joleine,  was  found  in  it.  Into  this  organ,  therefore,  there  had  been  a  kind 
of  infiltration  of  fat."* 

3.  Marrow.  —  This  is  the  fatty  matter  contained  in  the  interior  of  the  cylindrical  bones. 
Berzelius  analyzed  beef  marrow,  and  found  its  constituents  to  be  as  follows  :  — 

COMPOSITION  OF  BEEF  MARROW. 

Medullary  fat       .........        96 

Skins  and  blood-vessels      .  ....          1 

Watery  liquids  contained  in  these  bodies  ...          3 


Beef  marrow 100 

"  The  constituent  parts  of  these  liquids  do  not  differ  from  the  matters  which  cold  water 
extracts  from  beef." 

Marrow  is  deprived  of  the  skins,  vessels,  &c.,  by  melting  it,  and  straining  through  a 
linen  cloth. 

"The  marrow  of  large  bones,"  says  Berzelius,  "  is  absolutely  of  the  same  nature  as  the 
other  fat  of  the  same  animal.  The  difference  of  flavor  which  exists  between  the  marrow 
of  boiled  bones  and  ordinary  melted  fat  depends  on  foreign  matters  derived  from  the 
liquids  which  circulate  in  the  cellular  tissue  by  which  the  fat  is  surrounded,  and  espe- 
cially by  an  extractiform  substance  which  is  insoluble  in  alcohol." 

The  proportions  of  solid  and  liquid  fats  contained  in  marrow  are,  according  to  Bra- 
connot,  as  follows  : — 

Solid  Fat.  L  quid  Fat 

(Stearine.)  .Oleine.) 

Beef  marrow    .                         76  24 

Mutton  marrow        .                                                         26  74 

In  its  dietetical  properties,  marrow  agrees  with  other  oily  or  fatty  substances.  Beef 
marrow  is  the  only  variety  used  at  the  table.  It  is  never  eaten  raw-  It  is  frequently 
employed  as  a  substitute  for  suet  in  the  making  of  puddings. 

4.  Animal  Fats. — Under  this  head  are  included  the  oils  or  fats  contained  in  the  adipose 

*  Appendix,  T. 


ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLES. 


tissue  of  animals  :  when  separated  from  vessels  and  skins  by  melting  and  straining,  they 
are  said  to  be  rendered  down.  By  subjecting  animal  fats  to  pressure,  Braconnot  procured 
the  following  proportions  of  stearine  and  oleine  from  them  : — 

Solid  Fat.  J.iguid  Fat. 

100  Parts,  (Siearine,  &c.)  (Oleine.) 

Kog  s  lara 39  62 

Goose  fat  ....  32  58 

Duck  fat 28  72 

Turkey  fat 26  74 

Hog's  lard  contains,  besides  Stearine  and  Oleine,  some  Margarine,  (see  p.  83,  where 
also  is  stated  the  composition  of  rancid  lard.)  Mutton  Suet  consists  of  Stearine, 
Margarine,  Oleine,  Hircine,  and  Hircic  Acid,  (see  p.  83.)  Whale  oil,  obtained,  by  boil- 
ing, from  the  blubber  of  whales,  consists  principally  of  Oleine  with  some  Phocenine,  and 
usually  a  little  Phocenic  acid,  to  which  it  owes  its  odor.  It  also  contains  a  solid 
crystallizable  fat. 

The  digestibility  of  animal  fats  has  already  been  adverted  to,  (see  p.  82,)  as  well 
as  the  injurious  influence  of  heat  on  them,  (see  p.  83.)  I  have  likewise  noticed  the  fact 
that  some  kinds  of  cured  fats  (as  salt-pork  and  bacon)  are  less  indigestible,  by  some 
stomachs,  than  other  forms  of  fat,  (see  p.  84.) 

The  incapability  of  pure  animal  fats  to  effect  prolonged  nutrition  has  likewise  been 
stated,  (see  pp.  19  and  84.)  Magendie*  reportsthat  many  animals  which  at  first  ate  lard 
with  pleasure,  subsequently  refused  to  touch  it  After  a  shorter  or  longer  use  of  it  they 
all  died.  The  autopsy  of  one  of  these  animals  showed,  as  in  the  case  of  the  animal  who 
died  when  kept  exclusively  on  a  diet  of  butter,  "a  general  atrophy  of  the  organs,  but  a 
great  abundance  of  fat,  particularly  under  the  skin,  where  it  formed  a  layer  of  more  than 
one  centimetre  [0-39371  of  an  English  inch]  in  thickness." 

"We  tried,"  continues  Magendie,  "whether,  by  mixing  a  certain  portion  of  bread  with 
the  lard,  we  could  ameliorate  its  effects.  We  made  a  paste  composed  of 

Lard 120  Grammes. 

White  bread 250    Ditto. 

But  the  animal  who  was  submitted  to  this  nourishment  refused  it  after  a  few  days'  use 
of  it." 

Six  dogs  were  fed  exclusively  on  the  fat  which  surrounds  the  heart  of  the  ox.  This  fat 
contained  some  nitrogenous  matter  in  the  form  of  cellular  tissue,  and  some  small  parcels  of 
muscular  fibres.  Four  of  the  animals  refused  to  eat  of  it  after  using  it  for  seven  days, 
and  died  in  from  19  to  35  days.  The  two  other  animals  continued  to  take  it,  and  were 
nourished  by  it,  as  I  have  already  stated,  (see  p.  85  foot-note.) 

The  animal  fats  are  sometimes  used  by  the  cook,  as  preservative  agents  for  various 
foods.  Thus  plums  and  damson.s  when  boiled,  are  covered  with  suet,  in  order  to  pre- 
serve them  ;  potted  meats  with  butter ;  &c.  The  antiseptic  virtue  depends,  in  these 
cases,  on  the  exclusion  of  atmospheric  air ;  the  oxygen  of  which  is  a  powerful  accelera- 
tor of  fermentation  and  putrefaction. 

2.  OF  THE  VOLATILE  OR  ESSENTIAL  OILS. — As  volatile  oil  is  a  constituent  of  several 
substances  employed  at  the  table,  either  as  aliments  or  condiments,  I  have  thought  it  ad- 
visable to  notice  it  here  ; — the  more  especially  as  Dr.  Prout  includes  it  among  oleaginous 
aliments. 

The  labiate  plants  used  in  cookery,  under  the  name  of  sweet  or  savory  herbs,  such  as 
Mint,  Marjoram,  Savgry  Sage,  ar.d  Thyme,  owe  their  peculiar  odor  and  flavor  to  volatile 

*  Comptes  Rendus,  Aout,  1841. 


VOLATILE  OILS— PROTIENE.  89 

I  _ — ___ _ — 

!     oil  lodged  in  small  receptacles  contained  in  the  leaves.     The  fruits  and  leaves  of  several 
umbilleferous  plants  employed  for  flavoring,  as  Caraway,  Anise,  Fennel,  and  Parsley,  like- 

[l     wise  contain  volatile  oil,  to  which  they  owe  their  agreeable  flavor.     In  the   case  of  the 
umbelliferous  fruits,  the  oil  is  contained  in  tubes  or  vessels,  called  vitt&,  situated  in  the 

jl  pericarpial  coat  of  the  fruit.  The  cruciferous  or  siliquose  condiments,  such  as  Mustar^i, 
Horse-radish,  and  Water  Cresses,  yield  an  acrid  volatile  oil,  to  which  they  owe  their  pun- 
gency, The  alliaceous  condiments,  such  as  Garlic,  Onions,  Eschalots,  and  Leeks,  like-  i 
wise  owe  their  peculiar  flavor  to  volatile  oil.  The  spices,  as  Cinnamon,  Nutmeg,  Mace. 
Cloves,  Allspice,  Pepper,  and  Ginger,  owe  their  strong  but  grateful  odor  and  taste  to  vola- 
tile oil.  Lastly,  the  bitter-almond  flavor,  obtained,  not  only  from  Bitter-Almonds,  but  also 
from  the  leaves  of  the  Peach  and  the  Cherry-Laurel,  resides  in  a  volatile  oil. 

The  volatile  oils  of  many  of  the  preceding  substances  are  prepared  and  sold.  But  in 
flavor  and  odor  they  are  generally  inferior  to  the  substances  from  which  they  are  obtain- 
ed ;  as  the  act  of  distillation,  by  which  they  are  procured,  usually  diminishes  more  or  less 
their  agreeable  qualities.  Dissolved  in  rectified  spirit  of  wine,  in  the  proportion  of  one 
'part  of  oil  to  eight  pa»ts  of  spirit,  they  form  the  liquids  commonly  sold  as  Essences  for 
flavoring,  &c. 

The  relish  for  flavoring  or  seasoning  ingredients,  manifested,  in  a  greater  or  less  de- 
gree, by  almost  every  person,  would  lead  us  to  suppose  that  these  substances  serve  some 
useful  purpose  in  the  animal  er-onomy,  boycnd  that  of  merely  gratifying  the  palate.  •*  At 
present,  however,  we  have  no  evidence  to  prove  that  they  do.  They  stimulate,  but  do 
not  seem  to  nourish.  The  volatile  oil  wh'ich  they  contain  is  absorbed,  but  is  subsequently 
thrown  out  of  the  system,  still  possessing  its  characteristic  odor.  A  portion  of  it  may, 
perhaps,  under  some  circumstances,  be  bu.*nt  in  the  lungs,  and  in  this  way  produce 
heat* 

10.  THE  PROTEINACEOUS  AIIMENTAKY  PRINCIPLE. 

(Albuminous  Subst«n/3sO 

Several  organic  principles,  both  animal  and  vegetable,  which  are  employed  as  aliments, 
contain   as  their  basis,  or  at  least  yield,  the  substance  called  by  Mulder  Proteine,  snd 
which  I  have  before  noticed,  (see  p.  20.)     They  may,  therefore,  be  regarded  as  modifier 
tions  of  one  another,  or  of  proteine,  and  I  have  accordingly  included  them  in  one  group 
under  the  name  of  the  proteinaceous  alimentary  principle. 

This  graup  corresponds  very  nearly  with  that  called  by  Dr.  Prout  the  Albumi.ioru 
Alimentary  Principle.  It  differs,  however,  in  not  comprehending  gelatinous  substaLccs,, 
which,  for  reasons  hereafter  to  be  stated,  I  have  thought  it  advisable  to  ibrrxi  into  i  .dis- 
tinct group. 

Proteine  has  been  analyzed  by  its  discoverer,  Mulder,  and  also  by  Scherer. 

ANALYSES  OF  PROTEINE 
MULDER. 


Carbon 
Hydrogen     . 
Nitrogen 
Oxygen 

From  Fibrine.             From  Ovalbumen. 

55-44                       55-30 
6-95                         6-94 
16-05                        16-02 
21-56                      21-74 

Fr«n  Vegetable  Albumen. 

54-99 
6-87 
15-66 
22-48 

Proteine 

100-00 

100-00 

100-00 

*  Appendix,  U. 

' 

90  ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLES. 

SCHERER. 

From  Fibrin*  From  Albumen.  From  Crystalline  Ltnt 

Carbon        .        .        54-848                    55-160  55-300 

Hydrogen    .        .          6-959                      7-055  6-940 

Nitrogen      .        .        15-847                      15-966  16-216 

Oxygen        .        .        22-346                    21-819  '  21-544 

Proteine       !        !       100-000                    100-000  100-000 

Mulder  and  Liebig  have  deduced  the  following  formulae  for  the  representation  of  the 
composition  of  proteine : 

MULDER. 

Atoms.                     Eq.  Wt.  Per  Cent. 

Carbon                 .                        40                      240  54-93 

Hydrogen    ....        31                         31  7-09 

Nitrogen              ...          5                        70  16-02 

Oxygen                ...        12                        96  21-96 


Proteine 

1 

437 

100-00 

LIEBIG. 

Atoms. 

E<j.Wt. 

PerCen 

Carbon 

48 

288 

55-38 

Hydrogen    . 

36 

36 

6-92 

Niirogen 

6 

84 

16-16 

Oxygen 

14 

119 

21-54 

Proteine      ....          1  520  100-00 

These  formulae  differ  considerably  from  each  other,  yet  agree  very  closely  with  tl 
perimental  results.     They  are  good  illustrations  of  the  difficulty  of  determining  the  atomic 
constitution  of  complicated  organic  substances. 

Proteine  does  not  exist,  as  such,  in  organized  beings.  Combined  with  small  quantities 
of  mineral  or  organized  substances,  (sulphur,  phosphorus,  potash,  soda,  common  salt, 
and  phosphate  of  lime,)  it  constitutes  fibrine,  albumen,  and  caseine,  both  anu.ial  and  vege- 
table. 

The  composition  of  Fibrine,  Albumen,  and  Caseine,  is,  according  to  Mulder,*  as  fol- 
lows : — 

COMPOSITION  OF  PROTEINACEOUS  COMPOUNDS. 

Fibrino.  Ovalbumcn.  Seralbumen.  Caseine. 

Proteine      .        .        .        99-31  99-19  98-99  99-64 

Sulphur       .        .        .          0-33  0.43  0.33  0-36 

Phosphorus         .        .          0-36  0-38  0-68  0-00 

100-00  100-00  100-00  100-00 

[Salts]  [Salts]  [Salts]  [Salts] 

Fibrine,  albumen,  and  caseine,  contain,  besides  Proteine,  Sulphur,  and  Phosphorus,  a 
quantity  of  saline  matter,  (not  included  in  the  above  analyses,)  and  hence,  when  burned, 
they  leave  ashes,  (composed  principally  of  phosphate  of  lime  and  alkaline  salts.)  The 
following  are  the  proportions  of  ashes  obtained  by  Scherer  and  Jones  : — 

QUANTITY  OF  ASHES  YIELDED  BY  F1BRINF.  ALBUMEN,  AND  C.1SEINE 

100  Parts.  Abbes.  Authority 

Fibrine        .  1-3     to    2-3    Scherer. 


Seralbumen 

Ovalbumen  (white  of  egg) 
Altnunen  of  the  yo 
Albumen  of  Calf  s 


1-265  to    2-1  Ditto. 

2-0  Ditto. 

4-8  Jones. 

2-8  Ditto. 

Caseinet     .  1-5     to  100  Scherer 

Zieger 2-0  Ditto. 

The  dietetical  properties  of  pure  proteine  have  not  yet  been  ascertained.     The  pro- 
teinaceous  compounds  constitute  the  plastic  elements  of  nutrition,  (see  p.  16.)     Accord- 

*  Mulder's  formulae  for  fibrine  and  albumen  I  have  before  stated,  (p.  33,  foot-note.) 
t  The  ashes  of  caseine  consist  chiefly  of  phosphate  of  lime  and  potash,  (Liebig.) 


FIBRINE.  91 


ing"  to  Liebig,  they  are  produced  by  vegetables  only,  and  cannot  be  formed  by  animals, 
"  although  the  animal  organism  possesses  the  power  of  converting  one  modificat.on  of 
proteine  into  another,  fibrine  into  albumen,  or  vice  versa,  or  both  into  caseine,  &c.  In  this 
point  of  view,  the  vegetable  forms  of  proteine,  vegetable  albumen,  fibrine,  and  caseine, 
become  signally  important,  as  the  only  sources  of  proteine  for  animal  life,  and  consequent- 
ly of  nutrition,  strictly  so  called — that  is,  the  growth  in  mass  of  the  animal  body."* 

The  brain  and  nervous  matter  (which  is  quite  similar  to  brain)  are  distinct  from  all 
other  animal  tissues,  and,  according  to  Liebig,  are  formed,  in  the  animal  body  exclusively, 
"  from  compounds  of  proteine,  either  by  the  loss  of  some  azotized  compounds,  or  by  the 
addition  of  highly  carbonized  products,  such  as  fat."t 

Proteinaceous  aliments  are  obtained  from  both  animals  and  vegetables,  and  it  will,  there- 
fore, be  convenient  to  consider  them  under  two  distinct  sub-groups  ;  notwithstanding  that 
Liebig  states,  as  •!  have  before  observed,  (see  p.  20,)  that  animal  and  vegetable  fibrine, 
animal  and  vegetable  albumen,  and  animal  and  vegetable  caseine,  are  respectively  identi- 
cal in  every  particular. 

1.  ANIMAL  PROTEINACEOUS  PRINCIPLES. — This  sub-group  comprehends  Fibrine,  Albu- 
men, and  Caseine,  (see  p.  20.) 

a.  Fibrine ;  Animal  Fibrine. — The  fibrine  is  contained  in  solution  in  the  circulating 
blood,  but  coagulates  when  this  fluid  is  drawn  from  the  body,  forming,  with  the  coloring 
particles,  the  clot  or  er*ss<mf.nft<m.  In  the  so!id  state  it  constitutes  tha  basis  of  muscular 
fibre.  It  forms,  therefore,  the  principal  constituent  of  fcs  fleshy  or  lean  parts  of  animals. 
It  is  also  found  in  some  other  animal  tissues. 

QUANTITY  OF  FIBRINE  IN  ANIMAL  SUBSTANCES. 


100  Parts.                                              Fibrine. 

Authority. 

Blood  of  the  Hog                         .    0-46  ) 

(  > 

U                         t(         f) 

"    Sheep 

.    0-37V 
.    0-3  > 

.    .    .     s  .a 

and  Delafond. 

Beef  (muscle  of) 

.    20-0    in 

eluding  albumen    Brande. 

Veal  (ditto) 

.     19-0 

ditto 

Ditto. 

Mutton  (ditto) 

.    22 

ditto 

Ditto. 

Pork  (ditto) 

.     19 

ditto 

Ditto. 

Chicken  (ditto) 

.     20 

ditto 

Ditto. 

Cod  (ditto) 

.     14 

ditto 

Ditto. 

Haddock  (ditto) 

.     13 

ditto 

Ditto. 

Sole  (ditto) 

.     15 

ditto 

Ditto. 

Calf  s  Sweetbread  >                          s 

ivr  * 

(Thymus)             5    ' 

... 

onn. 

Fibrine  (as  beefsteak,  &c.)  is  readily  soluble  in  the  artificial  digestive  liquid  already 
described,  (see  p.  35,  foot-note.)  It  is  also  speedily  dissolved  in  the  living  stomach;  and 
is  generally  considered,  even  by  dyspeptics,  as  being  easy  of  digestion. 

It  is  an  important  element  of  nutrition,  and  yields  fibrine,  albumen,  and  caseine,  as  well 
as  the  tissues  composed  of  these  substances.  Alone,  however,  it  is  incapable  of  support- 
ing life,  except  for  a  very  limited  period.  MagendieJ  mentions,  as  a  most  singular  and 
surprising  circumstance,  that  animals  who  took  regularly  for  two  months  from  500 
grammes  [1  Ib.  4  oz.  37  grs.  troy]  to  1000  grammes  [2  Ibs.  8  oz.  74grs.  troy]  of  fibrine  daily, 
died  of  inanition ;  and  on  a  post-mortem  examination,  it  was  found  that  the  blood  had 
almost  entirely  disappeared.  "  Notwithstanding,"  says  JUagendie,  "  the  care  we  took  to 
collect  it,  [the  blood,]  a  few  minutes  after  death,  scarcely  a  gramme  [15-444  grs.  tiayj  of 
fihrine  could  be  obtained." 

b.  Albumen;  Animal  Albumen.— This  substance  constitutes  the  most  important  part  of 

*  Turner's  Chemistry,  7th  ed.  p.  1185.     1842  t  Ibid,  p.  1197. 

J  Comptes  Rendus,  Aout,  1841. 


ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLES. 


animal  foods.  The  albumen,  both  of  the  egg  (ovalbumeri)  and  of  the  serum  of  the  blood, 
(ser albumen,*)  is  liquid.  But  the  albumei  of  flesh,  glands,  and  viscera  of  animals,  is  solid. 
The  quantity  of  albumen  contained  in  several  aliments  is  as  follows  : — 

QUANTITY  OF  ALBUMEN  IN  ANIMAL  SUBSTANCES. 

100  Parts. 


Blood  of  the  Ox        ... 

"       Hog  (English  Breed,) 

"      Goat     . 

"        "      Sheep  (Merino)    . 
"        "      Ditto  (Uishley  breed) 

East  India  Isinglass 
Egg,  white  of 

"      yolk  of         ... 
Liver  of  Ox,  parenchyma  of    . 
Sweeibread  (lliymus)  of  Calf 
Caviare,  frosh  unpressed 
Muscle  of  Beef 
Veal 

Pork        . 
Roe  Deer 
"  Pigeon 

"  Chicken 

•'  Carp 

"  Trout 


Albumen. 

18-6 

18-58 

19-28 

18-35 

18-74 

7  2  to  135 
155 
17-47 
20-19 
14-00 
3100 

2-2 

32  to  2-6 

2-6 

2-3 

4-5 

3-0 

5-2 

4-4 


Authority. 

IMean    quantity   of 
blood     r-irptiscles 
and  solid  contents 
of  the  serum,  ac- 
cording    to    MM. 
Andral.  Gavarret, 
J    and  Del  a  fond. 
I'.   Solly, jun. 
BoMoek. 
Prout 
Braconnot. 
Morin. 
John. 


!  Soluble     Albumen 
and    IlttMnuto.Mtie, 
according    to 
Schlossberger. 


I  have  included  the  blood  corpuscles  among  the  albuminous  constituents  of  some  of  the 
preceding  alimentary  substances,  since  albumen  is  their  principal  constituent* 

Albumen  is  highly  nutritious,  and,  when  either  raw  or  lightly  boiled,  is  easy  of  diges- 
tion ;  but  when  boiled  hard,  or  especially  when  fried,  its  digestibility  is  considerably  im- 
paired, (see  Eggs.)  The  gastric  juice  has  the  property  of  coagulating  liquid  albumen, 
and  afterwards  of  dissolving  the  coagufa  which  are  formed.  The  influence  of  an  artifi- 
cial gastric  juice  on  cubes  of  coagulated  albumen,  (white  of  egg,)  I  have  abcady  men-. 
tioned,  (see  p.  35,  foot-note.) 

"  Albumen,"  says  Liebig,f  "  must  be  considered  as  the  true  starting  point  of  id  the  ani- 
mal tissues;  and  all  nitrogenized  articles  of  food,  whether  derived  from  the  animal  or  vege- 
table kingdom,  are  converted  intc  albumen  befere  they  can  take  part  in  the  process  of 
nutrition.  This  appears  from  the  phenomena  of  incubation,  where  all  tli  ;re  de- 

rived from  the  albumen  of  the  white  and  of  the  yolk,  which  contain  albumen  also,  with 
the  aid  only  of  the  air,  of  the  oily  matter  of  the  yolk,  and  t>f  a  certain  proportion  of  iron, 
also  found  in  the  yolk."  Out  of  this  albumen,  therefore,  must  be  formed  flesh,  blood, 
membrane  and  cellular  tissue,  blood-vessels,  feathers,  claws,  &c. 

Notwithstanding  this,  however,  animals  cannot  subsist  solely  on  albumen,  (see  \>.  '2'}, 
foot-note.)  After  a  few  days'  use  of  it  they  refuse  to  take  it,  preferring  to  suffer  the  most 
violent  pangs  of  hunger  rather  than  eat  it ;  and  ultimately  they  die  of  inanition-t  It  has 


*  According  to  Denis,  (Essaisur  VApplr-tion  de  la  Chimieb  T  Elude  Physiologique  du  Sang  de  rH 
p.  205,  1333,)  the  blood  corpuscles  have  the  following  composition  -. — 

{  Coloring  matters  (Haematosine) 1-8 

)  Peroxide  of  Iron  02 


Envelopes 


Central  nucleus  (albuminous  matters) 


93-0 


Blood  Corpuscles 100-0 

t  Turner's  Chemistry,  7lh  ed.  p.  1 187. 

t  The  reason  why  graminiferoin  animals  cannot  subsl-t  on  albumen  alone,  according  to  the  theory  of 
Licbig,  is  that  when  deprived  of  free  motion,  they  cannot  obtain  from  the  waste,  or  transformation  of  the 
ti  sue-,  a  sufficient  quantity  of  carbon  for  the  respiratory  process.  For  example,  2  lb;.  of  albumen  con- 
tain only  3i  oz.  of  carbon,  of  which,  among  the  last  products  of  transformation,  a  fourth  part  is  given  off 
in  the  form  of  uric  acid  — L 


CASEINE.  93 


been  justly  observed  by  Magendie,*  that  white  of  eggs  combines  a  number  of  conditions 
favorable  to  digestion.  "It  is  alkaline,  contains  saline  matters,  and  especially  common 
salt  in  very  large  proportion  :  the  animal  matter  which  it  contains  is  the  same  as  that 
found  in  the  chyle  and  in  the  blood :  it  is  liquid,  but  is  coagulated  by  the  acids  of  the 
stomach,  forming  flocculi  having  but  little  cohesion.  Lastly,  white  of  egg  contains  some 
organized  membranes,  which  may  perform,  in  digestion,  some  useful  and  perhaps  indis- 
pensable function.  But  notwithstanding  all  these  good  reasons,  albumen  is  refused  by 
animals." 

Albumen  (as  the  white  or  glaire  of  eggs)  is  used  by  the  cook  and  confectioner  as  a  clar- 
ifying or  clearing  agent  for  syrups,  jellies,  &c.  Its  efficacy  depends  on  its  coagulation,  by 
which  it  entangles  in  its  meshes  the  impurities,  with  which  it  either  rises  to  the  surface  or 
precipitates.  When  the  liquid  to  be  clarified  does  not  spontaneously  coagulate  the  albu- 
men, it  is  necessary  to  apply  heat. 

c.  Animal  Caseine;  Caseum ;  Lactalbumen ;  Curd. — This  is  the  coagulable  matter  of 
milk,  and  its  only  nitrogenized  constituent,  and  is  closely  allied  to  albumen,  of  which  it 
may  be  regarded  as  a  modification.  Liquid  caseine,  unlike  liquid  allumen,  does  not 
coagulate  by  heat,  though  when  milk  is  heated  in  an  open  vessel  an  insoluble  pellicle 
forms  on  it,  owing  to  the  action  of  the  atmospheric  oxygen.  "  The  ashes  of  soluble 
caseine,"  says  Liebig,f  "  are  very  strongly  alkaline ;  and  there  is  reason  to  believe  that 
the  potash  found  in  the  ashes  had  served,  by  combining  with  the  caseine,  to  render  it 
soluble." 

The  quantity  of  caseine  contained  in  different  kinds  of  milk  is  as  follows : 

QUANTITY  OF  CASEINE  IN  MILK. 

100  Parts.  Caseine.  Authority. 

Cow's  milk 4'48    O.  Henry  and  Chevallier. 

Ditto  fed  on  hay 3'0  "1 

Ditto  turnips 3-0    | 

Ditto  clover       4-0    |»Boussingault  and  Le  Bel. 

Ditto  potatoes  and  hay 15'1 

Ditto  ditto  3-3  J 

Ewe's  milk 4'50    O.  Henry  and  Chevallier. 

Goat's  milk 4-02    Ditto. 

Asses'  milk 1-82    Ditto. 

Woman's  milk 1-52    Ditto. 

Mulder;}:  has  shown  that  caseine,  like  albumen  and  fibrine,  is  a  proteinaceous  substance. 
It  differs,  however,  from  the  two  last-mentioned  principles,  in  containing  no  phosphorus, 
(see  p.  20  and  90.)  When  coagulated  by  rennet  and  afterwards  burnt,  it  yields  6  per 
cent,  of  phosphate  of  lime  and  a  half  per  cent,  of  caustic  lime.§ 

Coagulated  caseine,  deprived  of  whey  by  pressure,  and  usually  mixed  with  more  or 
less  of  butter,  constitutes  cheese;  the  richness  of  which  is  in  proportion  to  the  quantity  of 
butter  present.  Rich  cheese,  when  toasted,  undergoes  a  kind  of  semifusion,  and  becomes 
soft  and  viscid.  The  poorer  cheeses,  or  those  which  contain  very  little  butter,  are  better 
adapted  for  keeping.  When  toasted  they  shrivel  like  horn.  Stillon  Cheese  is  prepared 
from  milk  to  which  cream  is  added.  Cheshire  and  the  best  Gloucester  Cheeses  are  made 
from  unskimmed  milk.  Suffolk  and  Parmesan  Cheeses  are  prepared  from  skim-milk.H  An- 
notta  is  often  employed,  as  a  coloring  agent,  in  the  preparation  of  cheese.  Salt  is  used  to 
preserve  it,  as  well  as  to  improve  the  flavor  and  add  to  the  weight. 

*  Comptes  Rendus,  Aout,  1841.  J  Pharmaceutvsches  Cmtral-BlaUfilr  1839,  p.  244. 

t  Turner's  Chemistry,  7th  ed.  p.  1190.  §  Berzelius,  Traite  de  Chimie,  t.  vii.  p.  603. 

II  Gruy^re  cheeses  are  made  of  skimmed  milk  and  flavored  with  herbs.  The  most  celebrated 
cheese,  as  well  as  butter  of  this  country,  is  that  made  in  Goshen,  Orange  county,  New  fork. — L. 


94  ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLES. 

When  long  kept,  cheese  undergoes  a  series  of  peculiar  changes.  According  to  Chev- 
reul,*  its  odor  depends  on  the  development  of  the  fatty  acids  of  butter  ;  and,  when  the 
fermentation  is  prolonged,  to  tht  alteration  of  the  capric  acid.  Roquefort  Cheese  owes  its 
odor  to  the  latter  circumstance.  By  the  decomposition  of  moist  cheese,  there  is  developed 
a  solid  substance,  which  Braconnotf  called  aposepedin,  (from  «*•<•>,  from*  and  jirreJd*,  putre- 
faction, because  it  is  the  produce  of  putrefaction,)  but  which  Proust}  had  previously  de- 
nominated caseic  oxide.  This  last-mentioned  chemist  also  mentions  caseic  acid  as  a  con- 
stituent of  cheese  ;  but  Braconnot  states  that  the  substance  to  which  Proust  gave  tjiis 
name  is  a  compound  or  mixture  of  no  !ess  than  nine  substances,  viz.  free  acetic  acid, 
aposepedine,  animal  matter  soluble  in  water  and  insoluble  in  rectified  spirit,  (osmazome,) 
animal  matter  soluble  in  water  and  alcohol,  yellow  acrid  oil,  brown  slightly  sapid  oil,  ace- 
late  of  potash,  chloride  of  potassium,  and  traces  of  acetate  of  ammonia.  From  750  parts 
of  cheese,  Braconnot  obtained  36  parts  of  fatty  matter,  composed  of  margarate  of  lime 
1492,  margaric  acid  2-57,  oleic  acid  retaining  margaric  acid  and  a  brown  animal  matter 
18-51.  The  piquant  flavor  of  old  cheese  depends  on  oleic  acid  and  an  acrid  oily  m 

Cheese  is  subject  to  the  attacks  of  both  animals  and  vegetables.  The  Fly  called  Mu*ca 
(Tephrilis')  pittris  deposits  its  leaping  larvre  or  magots  (called  hoppers  or  jumpers}  on 
cheese.  The  Cheese-mite  (Acarus  domeslicus)  is  another  animal  of  frequent  occurrence. 
The  Mould  of  cheese  is  composed  of  minute  fungi.  Blue  Mould  is  the  A^rgiHus  glaucns 
of  Berkeley  ;||  while  Red  Cheese-mould  is  the  Sporcndonema  Casei  of  the  same  authority. 

Liquid  caseine,  as  it  exists  in  milk,  is  coagulated  in  the  stomach  by  the  gastric  secretion,1T 
and  the  coagula  thus  formed  are  subsequently  redissolved.**  In  this  form,  caseiuc  : 
of  digestion.     Cheese,  however,  is  digested  with  difficulty,  especially  by  .;  If    In 

the  toasted  state  it  is  still  more  obnoxious  to  the  stomach.}}: 

*  Ann.  de  Chvn.  et  de  Phys.  x.\iii.  p.  29.  J  Ann.  de  Chim.  etde  Phyx.  x.  p.  39. 

+  Ibid,  xxxvi.  p.  159.  §  Appendix,  V. 

||  Smith's  English  Flora,  Vol.  v.  Part  H.  Fungi,  by  the  Rev.  M.  J.  Berkeley.    Lond.  1836. 

IT  "  The  action  of  the  digestive  principle  on  caseine  deserves  a  more  particular  consideration.    Ber- 
zelius  had  already  pointed  out  that  the  rennet  of  the  calf  has  the  property  of  coagulating  milk 
after  all  traces  of  acidity  have  been  removed  by  washing.     It  is  known,  too,  that  the  cr> 
the  caseine  produced  by  rennet  is  peculiar  ;  inasmuch  as  the  curds  are  insoluble  in  water  and  in  an  addi- 
tional quantity  of  acid.    Now  Schwann  has  shown  that  this  property  of  coagulating  the  caseine  is 
possessed  by  the  artificial  digestive  fluid,  even  when  neutralized.    On  the  addition  of  a  very 
quantity  of  the  acid  fluid  to  milk,  and  the  application  of  heat,  the  coapulated  caseine  soon  sep 
of  the  neutral  fluid,  more  than  0'42  per  cent,  are  necessary  ;  0'83  is  sufficient.    The  power  of  the  arti- 
ficial digestive  fluid  to  coagulate  milk  is  destroyed  by  the  boiling  temperature  ;  it  cannot,  therefore,  !>e 
the  saline  ingredients  which  produce  the  coagulation.    This  peculiar  action  of  the  digestive  principle 
on  milk  renders  the  latter  fluid  a  test  for  its  presence.    Schwann  has  in  this  way  proved  that  the 
digestive  principle  which  we   are   here   considering,  really  exists  in  the  stomach.     He  divided  the 
stomach  of  a  rabbit,  which  had  died  immediately  after  birth,  into  two  portions  ;  boiled  one,  and  then 
added  to  each  some  milk.    On  the  application  of  a  gentle  heat,  the  milk  coagulated  in  the  portion 
which  had  not  been  boiled,  while  in  the  other  it  remained  unchanged,"  (Miiller's  Physiology,  by  Baly, 
vol.  i.  p.  547.) 

**  According  to  Schwann,  caseine  dissolves  in  the  acid  of  the  gastric  juice  ;  whereas  albumen 
requires  the  presence  of  pepsine  to  eflect  its  solution. 

tt  "  By  many,"  says  Dr.  DungUson.  (Elements  of  Hygicnf,  p.  278,  Philadelphia,  1835,)  "  cheese  is 
supposed  to  be  an  excellent  condiment,  and,  accordingly,  it  is  often  systematically  taken  at  the  end  of 
dinner  as  a  digestive,  ir.  accordance  with  the  old  proverb  :  — 

'Cheese  is  a  surly  elf, 
Digesting  all  things  but  itself.'  " 


tt  "With  respect  to  cheeso,"  says  Dr.  Cullen,  (A/u/tv/a  Malica,  p.  331.)  "there  is  yet  one  particular  to 
be  mentioned,  and  which  is  to  remark,  that  it  is  often  ate  after  having  been  toasted—  that  is,  heated  over 


CASEINE. 


95 


The  time  required  for  the  chymification  of  cheese  is,  according  to  Dr.  Beaumont's  ex- 
periments, as  follows : — 


ARTICLES 
OF 
DIET. 

MEAN  TIME  OF  THE  CHYMIFICATION. 

IN   STOMACH. 

IN   PHIALS. 

Preparation. 

H.    M. 

Preparation. 

H.    M. 

Cheese,  old,  strong,  . 

it                  »                U 

"       new,  mild    . 

Raw 

3    30 

Masticated 
Entire  piece 
Divided 

7    15 
18      0 
8    30 

Caseine  is  highly  nutritious,  constituting  a  plastic  element  of  nutrition,  (see  p.  16,)  by 
which,  in  the  young  mammal,  the  development  of  the  tissues  is  effected. 

"The  young  animal,"  says  Liebig,*  "receives,  in  the  form  of  caseine,  which  is  distin- 
guished from  fibrine  and  albumen  by  its  great  solubility,  and  by  not  coagulating  when 
heated,  the  chief  constituent  of  the  mother's  blood.  To  convert  caseine  into  blood  no 
foreign  substance  is  required,  and  in  the  conversion  of  the  mother's  blood  into  caseine, 
no  elements  of  the  constituents  of  the  blood  have  been  separated.  When  chemically 
examined,  caseine  is  found  to  contain  a  much  larger  proportion  of  the  earth  of  bones  than 
blood  does,  and  that  in  a  very  soluble  form,  capable  of  reaching  every  part  of  the  body. 
Thus,  even  in  the  earliest  period  of  its  life,  the  development  of  the  organs,  in  which  vital- 
ity resides,  is,  in  the  carnivorous  animal,  dependent  on  the  supply  of  a  substance,  identi- 
cal in  organic  composition  with  the  chief  constituents  of  its  blood." 

2.  VEGETABLE  PROTEIN ACEOUS  PRINCIPLES. — According  to  Liebig,  vegetables  contain 
proximate  principles,  which  are  not  only  similar  to,  but  absolutely  identical  with,  the 
fibrine,  albumen,  and  caseine  of  animals ;  and  he,  therefore,  denominates  them  respect- 
ively vegetable  fibrine,  vegetable  albumen,  and  vegetable  caseine. 

There  is  also  a  fourth  proteinaceous  vegetable  principle  called  glutine,  or  pure 
gluten. 

The  composition  of  these  substances  may  be  assumed  identical,  for  their  analyses  do 
not  differ  more  than  two  analyses  of  the  same  substances  differ  from  each  other. 

COMPOSITION  OF  VEGETABLE  FIBRINE. 

Obtained  from   Wheat- Gluten.  From  Rye  Meal 


Carbon  . 
Hydrogen 
Nitrogen  . 
Oxygen  . 
Sulphur  . 
Phosphorus 


Scherer. 

53-064 

7-132 

15-359 

24-445 


Scherer. 

54-603 

7-302 

15-810 

22-285 


Jones. 

53-83 

7-02 

15-58 

23-56 


Scherer 

54-617 

7-491 

15-809 

22-083 


100-000 


100-000 


100-00 


100-000 


tho  fi  -e  to  a  considerable  degree  ;  whereby  a  portion  of  its  oil  is  separated,  while  the  other  .parts  are 
united  more  closely  together.     1  know  many  persons  who  seem  to  digest  this  food  pretty  well :  but  it  is 
certainly  not  easily  digested  by  weak  stomachs ;   and  for  those  who  can  be  hurt  by  indigestion,  or 
heated  by  a  heavy  supper,  it  is  a  very  improper  diet." 
*  Ammal  Chemistry,  p.  52. 


96  ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLES. 

COMPOSITION  OF  VEGETABLE  ALBUMEN,  CASEINE,  AND  GLUTEN. 

Vegetable  Albumen  from  Rye.     Vegetable  Cuscine.  Pure  Gluten. 

(Jones.)  (Sckcrer.)  (Jones.} 

Carbon 5474  54-138  55-22 

Hydrognn 7-77  7-156  7-42 

Nitrogen 15-85  15  672  15-98 

Oxygen.  &c 21-64 23-034 21-33 

100-00  100-000  100-00 

No  experiment  have  been  made  on  the  nutritive  powers  of  these  principles  in  the 
separate  state ;  hut  they  are  doubtless  equal  to  those  of  the  same  principles  procured 
from  animals,  (sre  p.  20.) 

"How  beautifully  and  admirably  simple,"  says  Liebig,  "appears  the  process  of  nutri- 
tion in  animals,  the  formation  of  their  organs  in  which  vitality  chiefly  resides!  Those 
vegetable  princij-les  which,  in  animals,  are  used  to  form  blood,  contain  the  chief  constitu- 
ents of  blood,  filorine,  and  albumen,  ready  formed,  as  far  as  regards  their  composition. 
All  plants,  besides,  contain  a  certain  quantity  of  iron,  which  reappears  in  the  coloring 
matter  of  the  blood.  Vegetable  fibrine  and  animal  fibrine,  vegetable  albumen  and  animal 
albumen,  hardly  differ,  even  in  form;  if  these  principles  be  wanting  in  the  food,  the  nu- 
trition of  the  animal  is  arrested  ;  and  when  they  are  present,  the  graminivorous  animal 
obtains  in  its  food  the  very  same  principles  on  the  presence  of  which  the  nutrition  of  the 
carnivora  entirely  depends.  Vegetables  produce  in  their  organism  the  blood  of  all  ani- 
mals, for  the  carnivora,  in  consuming  the  blood  and  flesh  of  the  graminivora,  consume, 
j  strictly  speaking,  only  the  vegetable  principles  which  have  served  for  the  nutrition  of  the 
|  latter.  Vegetable  fibrine  and  albumen  take  the  same  form  in  the  stomach  of  the  gram- 
inivorous animal  as  animal  fibrine  and  albumen  do  in  that  of  the  carnivorous  animal." 

a.  Vegetable  Fibrine. — This  principle  is  most  abundant  in  the  seeds  of  the  cereal  grasses, 
as  Wheat,*  Rye,  Barley,  Oats,  Maize,  and  Rice.     It  exists  also  in  Buckwheat.     The 
Juice  of  Grapes  is  especially  rich  in  it     It  is  also  found  in  the  newly-expressed  juices 
of  mobt  vegetables,  as  of  Carrots,  Turnips,  and  Reet-root,  from  which  it  coagulates' spon- 
taneously on  standing.     It  is  a  constituent  of  the  raw  gluten  obtained  from  the  dough 
of  \vheaten  flour.     From  both  vegetable  albumen  and  vegetable  caseine,  it  differs  in  being 
insoluble  in  water.     Moreover,  it  does  not  dissolve  in  ammonia. 

b.  Vegetable  Albumen. — This,  like  vegetable  fibrine,  is  a  constituent  of  the  seeds  of  the 
Cereal  Grasses,  as  of  Wheat.     In  the  preparation  of  raw  gluten  from  wheaten  doutili,  it 
is  washed  away  along  with  the  starch.     It  is  found  in  great  abundance  in  the  Oily  Seeds, 
as  Almonds,  Nuts,  &c.     Most  Vegetable  Juices  contain  a  considerable  quantity  of  it 
Thus  the  juices  of  Carrots,  Turnips,  Cabbages,  Cauliflowers,  Asparagus,  and  other  cul- 
tivated nutritious  vegetables,  after  being  separated  from  the  coagulum  of  fibrine,  which 
spontaneously  forms  in  them,  yield  by  boiling  a  second  coagulum  of  vegetable  albumen. 

This  principle  differs  from  vegetable  fibrine  in  being  soluble  in  water,  and  from  vegeta- 
ble caseine  in  coagulating  when  heated. 

c.  Vegetable  Caseuie. — This  is  chiefly  found  in  Leguminous  Seeds,  as  Beans,  Peas, 
Lentils ;  and  ha.c,  in  consequence,  been  termed  Legumine.     The  oily  seeds,  such  as  Al- 
monds, Nuts,  &c.,  also  contain  it  along  with  albumen.     It  exists,  perhaps,  in  solution  in 
grape  juice,  ai.d  in  other  vegetable  juices  which  yield  very  little  vegetable  albumen  on 
being  heated.     It  differs  from  vegetable  fibrine  in  being  soluble  in  water  :  and  from  vege- 
table albumen  in  not  coagulating  when  its  aqueous  solution  is  heated. 

d.  Pure  Gluten.— By  washing  wheaten  dough  with  a  stream  of  water,  the  gum,  sugai 

*  The  vegetable  fibrine  of  wheat  is  identical  with  the  zymome  of  Taddei,  and  with  the  vegetable  alb* 
men  of  Berzelius. 


GLUTEN. 


starch,  and  vegetable  albumen,  are  removed  ;  while  a  ductile,  tenacious,  elastic,  gray 
mass  is  left,  which  is  usually  denominated  gluten.  I  shall  distinguish  it  as  raw,  impure, 
or  common  gluten.  It  is  sometimes  called  Beccaria's  gluten.  It  is  a  mixture  of  several 
organic  principles. 

When  raw  gluten  is  boiled  in  alcohol,  it  is  resolved  into  two  portions,  one  soluble,  the 
other  insoluble  in  this  liquid.  The  insoluble  portion  is  Liebig's  vegetable  fhrine.  It  is 
identical  with  what  Taddei  called  zymome,  (from  ^>»/,  ferment,}  and  which  Berzelius  de- 
scribes as  vegetable  albumen.  The  soluble  portion  is  that  which  Jones  (quoted  by  Liebig) 
analyzed  as  pure  gluten,  and  which  Taddei  called  gliadine,  (from  y\ta,  glue.)  It  probably 
consists  of  at  least  two  substances ;  one  which  deposits  as  the  hot  alcoholic  solution 
cools,  and  which  has  been  termed  mucine;  the  other  remains  in  solution  in  the  cold  liquor, 
and  has  been  called  glutine. 

The  quantity  of  pure  gluten  (glutine  and  mucine)  contained  in  different  alimentary 
substances,  has  not  been  accurately  determined.  According  to  Saussure,*  raw  gluten 
has  the  following  composition  : — 


.COMPOSITION  OF  RAW  GLUTEN. 

Glutine 

Vegetable  albumen  [vegetable  fibrine  of  Liebig] 
Mucine         ....  ... 

Oily  matter 

Starch  (accidental) 


20 

72 

4 

3-7 
small  quantity 


Raw  Gluten 


99-7 


The  quantity  of  raw  gluten  contained  in  various  alimentary  substances  is  as  follows: — 

QUANTITY  OF  GLUTINOUS  MATTER  CONTAINED  IN  SEVERAL  ALIMENTARY  SUB- 
STANCES. 


100  Parts. 

Wheat,  Middlesex  (average  crop) 
Spring  .  .  .  . 
Mildewed  of  1806 


Blighted  of  1804 

Thick- skinned  Sicilian  of  1810 

Thin-skinned  Sicilian  of  1810 

from  Poland      .... 

North  American 

of  the  neighborhood  of  Paris    . 

cultivated  in  soil  manured  with  ox 


blood 


with  human  faeces 
with  sheep's  dung 
with  goat's  dung 
with  human  urine 
with  horse-dung 
with  pigeon's  dung 
with  cow-dung 
with  vegetable  humus 


Ditto 

"        Ditto  " 

41        Ditto 

"        Ditto  " 

"        Ditto  " 

"        Ditto  " 

"        Ditto  " 

"       Ditto  « 

"        Ditto,  not  manured 
Wheat  

"        Bavarian            .                          . 
Barley,  Norfolk  

"        grown  in  soil  manured  with  horse-dung 
Oats  from  Scotland         ..... 

"        grown  in  toil  manured  with  horse  dung 
Rye  from  Yorkshire 

"        grown  in  soil  manured  with  horse-dung 
Rice,  Carolina 


Glutinous  Matter. 

19-0 

24-0 

3-2 

13-0 

23-0 

23-9 

20-0 

22-5 

9-2t 

34-24 

33-94 

32-9 

32'83 

35-1 

13-68 

12-2 

11-96 

9-6 

9-2 

12-5 

24-0 

6-0 

5-7 

8-7 

4-0 

10-9 

7-98 

360 


Authority 

Davy. 

Ditto. 

Ditto. 

Ditto. 

Ditto. 

Ditto. 

Ditto. 

Ditto. 

Boussingault 

Hermbstaedt 

Ditto. 

Ditto. 

Ditto. 

Ditto. 

Ditto. 

Ditto. 

Ditto. 

Ditto. 

Ditto. 

Proust. 

Vogel. 

Davy. 

Hermbstaedt. 

Davy. 

Hermbstaedt. 

Davy. 

Hermbstaedt. 

Braconnot. 


*  BiUiothlque  Universelle.     Sciences  et  Arts,  t.  liii.  p.  260.     1833. 

t  Mechanical  analysis  gave  Boussingault  only  9-2  per  cent,  of  raw  gluten  ;  but  the  quantity  of  nitrogen 
contained  in  the  same  wheat  indicated  14-4  per  cent,  of  raw  gluten.  The  difference  (5-2  per  cent.)  he 
ascribes  to  the  vegetable  albumen  and  gluten  carried  away  by  washing  in  the  mechanical  analysis,  (Ann. 
de  Ckim.  et  de  Phys.  t.  Ixv.  p.  308-9.) 


ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLES. 


100  Parts.  Glutinous  Matter.  Authority. 

Rice,  Piedmont  3-60  Braconnot. 

Maize  (zeln*)      3-0  Gorham. 

(dtik         5-753  Bizio. 


Beans,  common 
Peas,  dry 
Potatoes 
Beet,  Red 
Turnips,  comm  m 
Cabbage 


103  Davy. 

3-5  Davy 

4  to  3  Davy. 

1-3  Davy. 

0-1  Davy. 

0-8  Davy. 


From  Schwann's  experiments  it  appears  that  gluten  dissolves  in  the  acid  of  the  gastric 
secretion ;  for  when  it  was  digested  separately  with  dilute  acid  and  dilute  digestive  fluid, 
no  difference  could  be  perceived  in  the  change  which  it  underwent  in  the  two  fluids. 
Tincture  of  iodine  threw  down  a  precipitate  in  the  solution  of  gluten  in  the  dilute  acid, 
but  produced  no  change  of  color.* 

Gluten  is  easy  of  digestion  ;  at  least  substances  (as  the  preparations  of  wheat) 
which  contain  it  in  the  largest  quantity,  are  readily  digested  even  by  invalids  and 
dyspeptics. 

Gluten  is  highly  nutritious,  and  alone  is  capable  of  the  prolonged  nutrition  of  animals. 
"  Gluten,"  says  Magendie,f  "  obtained  either  from  wheat  or  maize,  presented  a  phenomenon 
which  we  had  not  observed  in  our  experiments  with  organic  immediate  principles,  which, 
in  every  instance,  excited  greater  or  less  aversion  in  the  animals  obliged  to  subsist  on  it 
solely. 

"  Gluten,  notwithstanding  that  its  odor  is  savorless,  and  sometimes  somewhat  nause- 
ous, while  its  taste  has  nothing  agreeable,  was  taken  without  difficulty  from  the  first  day, 
and  the  animals  continued  to  use  it  without  distaste  for  three  months  uninterruptedly. 
The  dose  was  120  to  150  grammes  [1852 £>  2315  grs.  troy]  daily,  and  the  animals  pre- 
served all  the  characters  of  excellent  health.  This  fact  appeared  the  more  remarkable  to 
us,  as  it  was  in  opposition  to  the  law  which  seemed  to  result  from  very  numerous  facts 
before  stated,  namely,  that  an  alimentary  substance,  especially  if  it  were  an  isolated  im- 
mediate principle,  is  riot  fitted  for  supporting  life  beyond  a  very  limited  period. 

"  Here,  however,  is  a  substance  heretofore  considered  as  an  immediate  azotized  principle, 
which,  without  any  preparation  or  seasoning,  excited  neither  repugnance  nor  disgust,  and 
which  alone  nourished  completely  and  for  a  long  period." 

Magendie  subsequently  observes  that  gluten  ought  not  to  be  considered  as  an  imme- 
diate principle.  "  That  which  we  employed,"  he  adds,  "  undoubtedly  contained  some 
traces  of  fecula.  Exclusive  of  this,  we  know  that  it  may  be  resolved  into  two  distinct 
substances ;  one  of  an  albuminous  nature,  the  other  called  glaiadine.  This  latter  is  like- 
wise separable  into  gluten  properly  so  called,  gum,  and  mucilage." 

"  Our  dogs,  therefore,"  he  continues,  "  eat  much  gluten,  combined  with  a  little  albumen, 
gum,  mucilage,  fecula,  and  even  sugar  arising  from  the  fecula.  This  aliment,  simple  in 
appearance,  was  then,  in  reality,  very  compounded." 

"  It  is  the  presence  of  gluten  in  wheaten  flour  that  renders  it  pre-eminently  nutritious, 
and  its  viscidity  or  tenacity  confers  upon  that  species  of  flour  its  peculiar  excellence  for 
the  manufacture  of  macaroni,  vermicelli,  and  similar  pastes,  which  are  made  by  a  kind  of 
wire-drawing,  and  for  which  the  wheat  of  the  south  of  Europe  (more  abundant  in  gluten 
than  our  own)  is  particularly,  adapted.  The  superiority  of  wheaten  over  other  bread 
depends  upon  the  greater  tenacity  of  its  dough,  which,  in  panary  fermentation,  is  puffed 

*  Muller's  Physiology,  Baly  &  Translation,  vol.  i.  p.  547. 

t  Rappcrt  fait  a  I  Acadtmie  des  Sciences  au  norm  de  la  Commission  dile  dt  la  Gtlatinc.  Comptes  Rendux, 
Aout,  1841. 


GELATINE. 


99 


100  Parts. 


Gelatine. 


Isinglass    (East  Indian)  86-5  to  92-8 
(good  quality)  .    70-0 

6-0 
6-0 
7-0 
5-0 
7-0 
7-0 
5-0 
6-0 

0-5 

Sweetbread  (Thymus)  of  Calf .      6-0 
Antlers  of  Stag  (Hartshorn)     .     27-0 
Bones,  spongy  portions    ...    39 
Bones  of  Sheep  (lleurn)  .  43  3  to  47-2 
'»      ofOx(Ileura)    ....     48-5 
"      of  Haddock  (Vertebrae)     39.49 


Muscle  of  Beef 
Veal 

"        Mutton    . 
Pork       . 
Chicken 
Cod 

Haddock 
Sole 

Caviare,  fresh  unpressed 


(Cartilage) 
(ditto) 


Authority. 

E.  Solly,  jun. 
John. 


Brande. 


John. 

Morin. 

Merat-Guillot. 

D'Arcet. 

Dr.  T.  Thomson. 


Under  the  name  of  gelatine  are  included  several  substances  which  differ  more  or  less 
from  each  other,  but  which  agree  in  most  of  their  principal  characters.  Two  of  these 
have  been  distinguished  by  distinct  names,  viz.,  Collinor  Colla  and  Chondrin. 

a.  Collin,  Thomson;  Colla,  Miiller ;  Common  Gelatine. — This  is  obtained  from  Isin- 
glass, Skins,  Tendons,  Cartilage  of  bone  after  ossification  has  taken  place,  Cellular  Tis- 
sue, and  the  Serous  Membranes.  It  is  distinguished  from  chondrin  by  not  being  precipi- 


*  Brande's  Manual  of  Chemistry  p.  1091,  5th  ed.     1841. 

t  See  the  article  Bread. 

|  Cn  the  Nature  and  Treatment  of  Stomach  and  Urinary  Diseases,  pp.  xii.  and  xiii.  3d  ed. 


up  by  the  evolved  carbonic  acid,  and  retained  in  its  vesicular  texture,  so  as  to  form  a  very 
light  loaf"* 

Gluten  being  nutritious  and  unobjectionable  as  an  article  of  food  in  diabetes,  has  been 
recently  used  in  the  preparation  of  what  has  been  called  gluten  bread,  for  'he  use  of  dia-     |! 
betic  patients,  f  ' 

11.  THE  GELATINOUS  ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLE. 

Dr.  ProitJ  comprehends  gelatine  among  albuminous  aliments.  He  considers  it  to  be  a 
modification  of  albumen,  or  "  as  the  least  perfect  kind  of  albuminous  matter  existing  in 
animal  bodies." 

But  gelatine  and  albumen,  and  the  proteinaceous  and  albuminous  tissues  respectively 
differ  in  their  chemical  properties  and  composition.  And  though  it  is  probable  that,  in  the 
animal  system,  gelatinous  tissues  are  formed  out  of  proteine  compounds,  chemists  have 
hitherto  totally  felled  to  convert  albumen  into  gelatine,  or,  vice  versa,  to  change  gelatine 
into  albumen.  Moreover,  as  the  composition  of  proteine  compounds  is  identical  with  that 
of  the  flesh  and  blood  of  animals,  while  that  of  the  gelatinous  tissues  is  not,  it  follows 
that  the  nutritive  qualities  of  the  proteinaceous  and  gelatinous  tissues  cannot  be  identical. 
For  these  reasons  I  have  thought  it  desirable  to  separate  gelatinous  aliments  from  albu- 
minous ones. 

Albuminous  or  proteinaceous  tissues  are  insoluble  in  water,  and  by  boiling  become  hard. 
Gelatinous  tissues,  on  the  other  hand,  yield,  by  boiling,  a  substance  called  gelatine,  which 
is  soluble,  and  forms  with  water  a  tremulous  mass,  termed  jelly,  (animal  jelly.)  The 
quantity  of  gelatinous  matter  obtained  from  different  alimentary  substances  is  as  fol- 
lows : — 

QUANTITY  OF  GELATINOUS  MATTER  OBTAINED  FROM  ALIMENTARY  SUBSTANCES. 


1840. 


100 


ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLES. 


tated  from  its  aqueous  solution  by  muriatic  acid,  acetic  acid,  acetate  of  lead,  alum,  sul- 
phate of  alumina,  or  sulphate  of  the  sesquioxide  of  iron.  Glue,  Site,  and  Isinglass 
Jetty,  are  examples  of  collin. 

p.  Chondrin,  Miiller. — This  is  obtained  from  the  Cornea,  the  Spongy  Cartilages,  the 
Permanent  Cartilages,  Cartilage  of  bone  before  ossification,  the  Unossified  Cartilages  of 
the  Cartilaginous  fishes,  and  the  Bony  Crusts  of  the  Armadillo.  It  is  distinguished  froin 
collin  by  being  precipitated  from  its  aqueous  solution  by  muriatic  acid,  acetic  acid,  acetate 
of  lead,  alum,  sulphate  of  alumina,  and  sulphate  of  the  sesquioxide  of  iron. 

y.  Gelatine  from  Elastic  Tissues. — The  gelatine  obtained  from  the  Elastic  Tissues,  as 
the  Inner  Arterial  Coat,  the  Ligaments  of  the  Larynx,  &c.,  is  identical  with  neither  collin 
nor  chondrine,  though  it  approximates  nearer  to  the  latter.  Its  aqueous  solution  is  ren- 
dered turbid  by  acetic  acid  and  acetate  of  lead,  and  is  precipitated  by  alum  and  sulphate 
of  alumina,  but  does  not  form  a  precipitate  with  sulphate  of  the  sesquioxide  of  iron. 

*.  Gelatine  altered  by  heat. — When  gelatine  is  submitted  to  prolonged  ebullition,  or  to  a 
temperature  exceeding  220° F.,  it  undergoes  important  changes.  It  evolves  ammonia, 
becomes  syrupy,  loses  its  characteristic  property  of  forming  with  water  a  jelly,  and  very 
speedily  undergoes  putrefaction.  Thus  altered,  it  has  a  disagreeable  flavor.  Its  nutritive 
properties  are  greatly  deteriorated,  if  not  altogether  destroyed.  It  is  less  digestible,  and 
readily  deranges  the  functions  of  the  digestive  organs. 

The  ultimate  composition  of  gelatinous  substances  is  as  follows  : — 

COMPOSITION  OF  GELATINOUS  SUBSTANCES. 


Carbon  .    .    , 
Hydrogen  .     . 
Nitrogen     .     . 
Oxygen  . 

Tissues  yielding  Collin. 

Collin. 

Tissues  yielding 
Ckondrin. 

Tendons  of 
Isinglass.      Caffs  Foot. 
(Scherer.)      (Scherer.) 
50-557        50-960 
6-903          7-188 
18-790        18-320 
23-750        23-532 

Hartshorn  jelly. 
(Mulder.) 

50-048 
6-643 
18-988 

24-921 

Cartilages  of 
Calfs  Jiibs. 
[Sclterer.] 
50-895 
6-962 
14-908 
27-235 

100000       100-000 

100-000 

100000 

From  the  researches  of  Mulder  and  Scherer,  Liebig  has  deduced  the  following  empiri- 
cal  formulae  of  the  composition  of  various  organic  substances. 

COMPOSITION  OF  ORGANIC  TISSUES. 


Albumen 

Fibrine 

Caseine 

Gelatinous  tissues,  tendons 

Chondrine 

Hair,  horn 

Arterial  membrane 


C«  N«    H»  O»  -f  P  +  S* 
C«N8    H*  O"  +  P  -j-  2  S 


N™  H«  O'8 
N8    HMO» 


C«N8 


"  The  composition  of  these  formulae  shows  that  when  proteine  passes  into  chondrine, 
(the  substance  of  the  cartilages  of  the  ribs,)  the  elements  of  water,  with  oxygen,  have 
been  added  to  it ;  while  in  the  formation  of  the  serous  membranes,  nitrogen  also  has  en- 
tered into  combination. 

"If  we  lepresent  the  formulae  of  proteine  C48  N'H38  O14by  Pr,  then  nitrogen,  h}tlro- 
gen,  and  oxygen,  have  been  added  to  it  in  the  form  of  known  compounds,  and  in  the  fol- 
lowing proportions,  in  forming  the  gelatinous  tissues,  hair,  horn,  arterial  membrane,  &c." 

*  "The  quantities  of  sulphur  and  phosphorus  here  expressed  by  S  and  P  are  not  equivalents,  but 
only  give  the  relative  proportions  of  these  two  elements  to  each  other,  as  found  by  analysis." 


GELATINE.  101 


Proteine.  Ammonia.                      Water.  Oxygen. 

Pibnne  Pr . 

Albumen                       Pr  .  -f-           2  HO  ... 

Chondrine                      Pr  .  -f-           4  HO  ,        .   2 O 

Hair,  horn                       Pr  -f           NHs                 .        .        .  .    -j-    3  O 

Gelatinous  tissues  .    2  Pr  -f-        3  NH^  -f-          .    HO  -f-   7  O 

According  to  Schwann,  the  artificial  digestive  liquor  (described  at  p.  35,  foot-note,)  pro- 
duced no  other  change  upon  gelatine  than  what  simple  acidified  water  equally  produced. 
His  statements  are  confirmed  by  Dr.  Beaumont's  experiments.* 

The  digestibility  of  the  different  varieties  and  forms  of  gelatinous  matter  is  not  uniform. 
Calfs-fooljellij,  when  fresh  prepared,  I  believe  to  be  readily  digested  even  by  invalids  and 
dyspeptics,  with  whom  I  have  rarely  found  it  disagree.  I  am  confirmed  in  this  opinion 
by  the  experiments  of  Dr.  Beaumont.f 

Isinglass  jelly,  when  fresh  prepared  from  isinglass  of  good  quality,  and  also  Hartshorn 
jelly,  are  probably  equally  easy  of  digestion.! 

But  other  forms  of  gelatinous  matter  are  more  difficult  of  digestion,  and  some  are  very 
apt  to  derange  the  functions  of  the  digestive  organs.  Thus  very  hard  gelatinous  tissues, 
as  tendons,  require  a  larger  quantity  of  gastric  juice  and  a  longer  time  for  their  complete 
digestion.^  Gelatinous  liquids,  when  very  weak,  or  which  are  obtained  by  means  of  a 
high  temperature  or  prolonged  ebullition,  or  which  are  procured  from  tissues  containing 
fat  or  other  matters  apt  to  become  rancid,  readily  disturb  the  functions  of  the  stomach 
and  intestines.  The  injurious  effects  of  gelatine  which  has  been  altered  by  heat,  I  have 
already  had  occasion  to  mention,  (see  p.  100.)  Soups,  hashes,  and  stews,  all  of  which  con- 
tain gelatine,  are  obnoxious  to  the  digestive  organs  of  dyspeptics  and  invalids,  partly 
perhaps  on  account  of  the  changes  effected  in  the  gelatinous  matter  by  heat,  but  principally 
from  the  presence  of  fatty  and  other  substances  difficult  of  digestion,  (see  p.  84.) 

It  is  customary  with  writers  on  dietetics  to  declare  all  gelatinous  substances  difficult  of 
digestion  :  but  such  assertions  are,  in  my  opinion,  far  too  sweeping.  They  can  apply  only 
to  certain  kinds  of  gelatinous  foods ;  and  not  to  some  of  the  simplest  and  purest  forms 
of  gelatine,  such  as  plain  calf  s-foot  jelly. 

The  times  required  for  the  digestion  of  various  substances,  as  ascertained  by  Dr.  Beau- 
mont, are  assfollows : — 


*  Op.  supra,  cit.  pp.  237-233. 

t  The  experiments  of  Dr.  Beaumont,  above  referred  to,  were  made  on  the  Canadian  whose  case  I 
have  already  noticed,  (see  p.  82.)  The  following  are  the  notes  of  one  experiment  :— 

41  EXPERIMENT  41. — At  1  o'clock,  P.M.,  he  ate  eight  ounces  of  Calf  s-foot  jelly,  and  nothing  else. 

"  In  twenty  minutes,  examined  stomach,  and  took  out  a  portion  of  its  contents,  consisting  of  gastric 
juice,  combined  with  the  jelly,  nearly  all  of  it  in  a  fluid  form ;  a  few  particles  only  of  entire  jelly,  sus- 
pended in  the  fluids,  with  a  few  small  yellowish-white  coagula  floating  near  the  surface,  could  be  per- 
ceived. 

"At  2  o'clock  examined  again,  extracted  a  little  fluid,  but  found  no  appearance  of  jelly. 

"  Remarks. — The  operation  of  gastric  juice  on  gelatine  is  very  difficult  to  be  detected.  Unlike  albu- 
men, it  is  unsusceptible  of  coagulation  ;  and  it  is  probable  that  the  gastric  juice  acts  upon  it  in  its  soft 
solid  state.  This  was  disposed  of  in  a  short  period.  It  was,  however,  but  a  small  quantity,  and  was 
much  sooner  digested  than  a  full  meal  would  have  been.  From  various  trials,  I  am  disposed  to  think 
that  gelatine,  if  not  in  too  concrete  a  state,  is  a  very  digestible  article  of  diet." 

t  We  have  found  Isinglass  jelly  a  better  article  of  nourishment,  in  cases  of  cholera  infantum  in 
children,  than  farinaceous  substances. — L. 

§  Beaumont,  op.  supra,  cit.  p.  194-5. 


ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLES. 


DIGESTION  OF  GELATINOUS  SUBSTANCES. 


Articles  of  Diet 

Mean  time  of  Chymification. 

In  Stomach. 

In  Phials. 

Preparation. 

H.       M. 

Preparation.      '       H.        M.^ 

Calf's-foot  Jelly  (Exp.  41) 
Isinglass  Jelly  (Exp.  64) 
Gelatine  

Boiled 
Boiled 
Boiled 
Boiled 
Boiled 

Boiled 

1         0 
1         0 
2       33 
3        0 
4       15 

5      30 

Boiled 
Boiled 

Divided 
Masticated 
Entire  piece 
Entire  piece 
Entire  piece 

4        45 
6        31) 

12          0 
12        45 
24          0 
8tf          0 
80          0 

Aponeurosis     .... 
Cartilage 

Cartilage      
Tendon        
Tendon  of  young  beef 
Bone,  beef,  solid  .     .     . 
"       hog's,  solid      .     . 

A  gelatinous  substance,  though  possessing  some  degree  of  nutritive  power,  cannot 
alone  sustain  animal  life ;  but,  when  taken  in  conjunction  with  other  alimentary  sub- 
stances, takes  part  in  the  nutrition  of  the  body.  Different  gelatinous  substances,  how- 
ever, are  unequally  nutritive.  Thus  gelatine  is  less  nutritive  than  the  bone  which 
yields  it. 

The  French  Gelatine  Commission  found  that  dogs  fed  solely  on  raw  bones  and  water  for 
three  months,  continued  in  perfect  health,  and  lost  none  of  their  weight  by  the  use  of  this 
kind  of  food.  Now  as  by  boiling  in  water  the  cartilaginous  tissue  of  bone  is  resolved  into 
gelatine  principally,  it  follows  that  a  gelatinous  tissue  (that  is,  a  tissue  which  by  boiling  is 
resolved  into  gelatine)  contributes  to  the  nutrition  of  the  body  ;  though  it  cannot  be  said 
to  be  the  exclusive  agent  in  this  process,  since  bones  contain  other  alimentary  principles 
(such  as  fatty  and  albuminous  matters)  besides  the  earthy  salts  and  the  substance  which 
is  resolvable  into  gelatine. 

The  same  experimenters  found  that  the  nutritive  quality  of  bones  is  deteriorated,  or 
even  destroyed,  by  boiling  them,  by  digesting  them  in  hydrochloric  acid,  and  especially 
by  resolving  their  cartilaginous  tissue  into  gelatine.  Thus  the  very  same  kind  of  bones 
which  in  the  raw  state  effected  nutrition,  failed  to  support  animal  life  after  they  had  been 
boiled ;  for  dogs  which  had  been  fed  on  them  died  at  the  end  of  two  months,  with  all  the 
signs  of  inanition,  and  with  a  considerable  diminution  of  their  weight 

An  exclusive  diet  of  beef  tendon  and  water  is  incapable  of  effecting  perfect  nutrition. 
A  dog  ate  the  tendons  for  eighteen  days,  and  then  manifested  dislike  to  them  ;  but  he 
continued  to  take  them  for  five  days  longer,  when  he  refused  them.  He  had  now  lost 
considerably  in  weight,  and  manifested  other  signs  of  inanition. 

Gelatine  extracted  from  bones  was  refused  by  dogs, — by  some  from  the  first,  by  others 
after  once  or  twice  using  it.  They  preferred  enduring  the  pangs  of  hunger  to  eating  it ; 
though  it  was  tried  in  various  forms,  namely,  both  in  the  dry  and  humid  states,  and  as  a 
tremulous  jelly.  Seasoned  gelatine  prepared  for  the  use  of  man,  and  which  had  a  very 
agreeable  flavor,  was  eaten  for  a  few  days,  and  then  refused  ;  tt  e  animals  dying  of  star- 
vation on  the  twentieth  day.  These  experiments,  therefore,  are.  tolerably  conclusive  that 
animals  cannot  be  nourished  on  gelatine  exclusively.  M.  Donne  tried  its  effects  on  him- 
self. He  took  daily  from  20  to  50  grammes  [from  308$  grs.  to  771|  grs.  tioy]  of  dry 
gelatine  (in  the  farm  of  a  sugared  and  aromatized  jelly,  with  either  lemon  or  some  ppiri:,) 
and  from  85  to  100  grammes  [from  1312  grs.  troy  to  1543$  grs.  troy]  of  bread.  At  the 
expiration  of  six  days  he  had  lost  two  pounds  in  weight,  and  (Turing  the  whole  time  was 
tormented  with  hunger,  and  suffered  with  extreme  faintness,  which  was  only  alleviated 
after  dining  in  his  usual  way. 


ISINGLASS.  103 


These  experiments  do  not,  however,  go  the  length  of  proving  that  gelatine,  taken  in 
conjunction  with  other  alimentary  substances,  does  not  assist  in  nutrition.  The  every-day 
experience  of  the  physician  would  negative  such  an  inference.  Moreover,  the  investiga- 
tions of  M¥.  Edwards  and  Balzac  favor  the  notion  that  gelatine  taken  with  other  kinds 
of  food  assists  the  nutrition  of  the  body. 

Liebig  has  recently  suggested  that  the  nourishing  powers  of  gelatine  are  confined  to 
the  gelatinous  tissues :  for,  as  proteine  cannot  be  obtained  from  gelatine,  the  latter  can 
serve  neither  for  the  formation  of  blood  nor  for  the  reproduction  and  growth  of  albuminous 
and  fibrinous  tissues.  It  is,  therefore,  probable,  he  thinks,  "that  gelatine,  when  taken  in 
the  dissolved  state,  is  again  converted,  in  the  body,  into  cellular  tissue,  membrane,  and 
cartilage.  And  when  the  powers  of  nutrition  in  the  whole  body  are  affected  by  a  change 
of  the  health,  th^n,  even  should  the  power  of  forming  blood  remain  the  same,  thfe  organic 
force  by  which  the  constituents  of  the  blood  are  transformed  into  cellular  tissue  and  mem- 
branes must  necessarily  be  enfeebled  by  sickness.  In  the  sick  man,  the  intensity  of  the 
vital  force,  its  powers  to  produce  metamorphoses,  must  be  diminished  as  well  in  the 
stomach  as  in  all  other  parts  of  the  body.  In  this  condition,  the  uniform  experience  of 
practical  physicians  shows  that  gelatinous  matters  in  a  dissolved  state  exercise  a  most 
decided  influence  on  the  state  of  the  health.  Given  in  a  form  adapted  for  assimilation, 
they  serve  to  husband  the  vital  force,  just  as  may  be  done,  in  the  case  of  the  stomach,  by 
due  preparation  of  the  food  in  general." 

These  opinions,  however  ingenious  and  plausible,  require  to  be  confirmed  by  facts ;  for 
at  present  they  are  rather  to  be  regarded  as  unsupported  hypotheses.  Even  should  they 
be  eventually  admitted  as  true,  they  offer  no  explanation  of  many  of  the  curious  and  inter- 
esting circumstances  respecting  the  alimentary  properties  of  gelatinous  substances,  which 
have  been  recently  reported  by  the  French  Gelatine  Commission. 

As  gelatine  is  convertible  into  a  kind  of  sugar  (gelatine  sugar  or  glycicoll  C8  H7  N2  O5 
-f-  2  HO)  by  a  process  similar  to  that  by  which  starch  may  be  so  converted,  it  is  probably 
a  less  appropriate  alimentary  principle  for  diabetic  patients  than  proteinaceous  (albumin- 
ous) substances. 

Besides  its  use  as  an  alimentary  substance,  gelatine  (in  the  form  of  isinglass  princi- 
pally) is  employed  as  a  clarifying,  clearing,  or  fining  agent,  for  coffee,  wines,  beer,  &c. 
Some  of  the  constituents  of  these  liquors  unite  with  the  gelatine  and  form  insoluble 
compounds,  which  precipitate  and  carry  with  them  the  matters  which  rendered  the  liquor 
turbid. 

A  few  only  of  the  gelatinous  substances  in  use  as  food  will  require  separate  notice. 

1.  Isinglass. — This  is  procured  from  the  air-bag  or  swimming-bladder,  sometimes  termed 
the  sound,  of  various  fishes.  The  finest  kinds  are  procured  from  differant  species  of  Aci- 
penser,  (Sturgeons,')  and  are  imported  from  Russia  and  Siberia.  But  other  genera  of 
fishes,  as  Silurus,  Morrhua,  Gadus,  Ololithus,  Lota,  and  Polynemus,  also  yield  it.  Some- 
times the  bag  is  dried  unopened,  as  in  the  case  of  the  purse,  pipe,  and  lump  isinglasses  of 
the  shops.  At  other  times  it  is  laid  open,  and  submitted  to  some  preparation  ;  being  either 
dried  unfolded,  as  in  the  leaf  and  lioneycomb  isinglasses ;  or  folded,  as  in  the  staple  (long 
and  short}  and  book  isinglasses ;  or  rolled  out,  as  in  the  ribbon  isinglass.  When  it  arrives 
in  this  country  it  is  picked  or  cut.  Formerly  it  was  picked  into  shreds  by  women  and 
children,  but  is  now  usually  cut  by  machines  worked  by  steam.  .The  Russian  and  Sibe- 
rian isinglasses,  (the  kinds  which  from  their  purity  and  ready  solubility  are  best  adapted 
for  domestic  use,)  are  carefully  prepared  by  washing  them  with  warm  water  to  remove 
any  adhering  blood,  cut  open  longitudinally,  exposed  to  the  air,  with  the  inner,  delicate, 


104 


ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLES. 


silvery  membrane  upwards.     When  dried,  this  fine  membrane*  is  removed  by  beating 
and  rubbing,  and  the  swimming  bladder  is  then  made  into  various  forms. 

For  the  following  table  of  the  varieties  of  isinglass  at  the  present  time  known  in  the 
London  markets,  I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  James  Metcalfe,  wholesale  dealer  in  isinglass?,  ol 
No.  2ft  Artillery  Place,  Finsbury  Square,  London.  I  have  thought  it  desirable  to  have 
the  prices  annexed  in  order  to  show  the  relative  commercial  value  of  the  different  kinds. 

VARIETIES  OF  ISINGLASS. 


COUNTRY. 

PLACE  OF  PRO- 
DUCE. 

PLACE  OF  EX- 
FORT. 

NA.MI-:  AND  CHAR- 
ACTER. 

PRICES 
PER  LB.  ENGLISH. 

REMARKS.* 

Russian 
Empire.    ' 

Nor^th 
America. 

South      ) 
America.  $ 

East  Indies 

Philippine  > 
Islands     $ 

The  Oural  (Ural) 

The  Irtysch  and 
Obi  

St.  Petersburg 

» 
(i 

Odessa.  .  .  . 
Taganrog   .  .. 

M 

M 

St.  Petersburg 
Hudson's  Bay 
New  York.  . 

I  Maranham 
<j      and  Para 

Calcutta  .  .  . 
.   * 

LONG        STAPLE 
URAL  1st  &  2d 
SHORT  ditto  PA- 
TRIARCH. .  .  . 

Ditto  ditto  1st  and 
2d  .  .  .  . 

s.  d. 
14  6 

14  6 

14  6 
14  6 
16  0  14  6 
8  0 
3  6 
6  0 
3  9 
4  0 
5  f. 

8  6 
8  6 

No  price 
50      40 
50      40 

3  6 
76      66 

|46 

4  0 

4  0 

s.   d. 
13  6 
none 

13  0 

to  9  6 
10  6 
13  6  to  9  6 

3  3 
3  6 

7  6 
6  0 

30 
3  3 

2  0 
6  0 

4  0 
3  6 

3  6 

Very  choice  ; 
c  ear. 

f  These   are 
j  the      sorts 
I  \v'i'-h  yield 
^tlie  cut. 

Refuse  of  the 
nbove. 
Seldom     im- 
ported. 
Seldom      in- 
quired for. 
Used  for  lin- 
ings. 
In  great  de- 
mand. 
Seldom     im- 
por:cil. 

In    good    es- 

A  thin    iiiM» 
lublr  mem 
br.me  lin'g 
the  inside. 
Not  in  u.-e. 
)  In   general 
{    demand. 

Not  in  much 
repute. 
I'si  d  perhaps 
lor  mi\iiiLr 

":=IH 

li^i 

S  "  .•  c.2 

•isii 
<  °il 

s*5*| 

piii 

Quality  a>-i 
miluiiiisi  to 
Samnvey. 

Oural  and  tribu- 
taries    .... 

Astrakhan  .  .  . 

The   Volga  and 
tributaries  .  . 

Tributaries      of 
Black  Sea  .  . 
Tcherkaskoy    . 

The  Don  and  tri- 
butaries .  .  . 
Ditto  

BOOK  

THIN  LEAF  1st  & 

•J.I 

BELUGA  1st  &  2d 
Cut  by  machine 
or  hand  .... 
Pickings         (the 
brown  ends)  . 

SISANE  LEAF  .  . 
KROSKI  or  KROS- 

KY 

SAMOVEY     LEAF 
1st  and  2d  .  .  . 
Ditto  BOOK  1st  & 
2tl 

The  Irtysch  and 
Obi    . 

Ditto  SHORT  STA- 
PLE    

SIUKRIAN  PURSE 
PURSE  

[ludson's      Bay 
and  rivers  .  . 

United  States  . 
The  Brazils      . 

Bay  of  Bengal  . 
Manilla  

RIRBON  

f  PIPE  BRAZIL  . 
LUMP  ditto 

HONEYCOMH     . 

4      ditto  
CUT  BRAZIL  . 

(  PURSE 

}  LEAF  
(  PICKED  

MANILLA  THIN  > 
CAKE  $ 

I 

*  It  is  usually  stated  that  the  innermost  membrane  of  the  swimming  bladder  is  that  which  yields  gela- 
tine by  boiling    but  I  have  elsewhere  shown  this  to  be  an  error,  (see  my  Elements  of  Maleria  Medico, 


ISL\  GLASS.  105 


Isinglass  has  been  analyzed  by  both  John  and  Mr.  E.  Solly,  jun.     Their  results  are  sub- 
joined : — 

COMPOSITION  OF  ISINGLASS. 


John. 

Gelatine  .....  70-0 
Osmazome  [?]  ...  16-0 
Membrane  insoluble  in  boil- 


ing  water 


-  ) 
.  \ 


Free  acids  and  salts        .         .       4-0 
Water  7-5 


Isinglass  of  good  quality  .     .     100-0 


Mr.  E.  Solly,  jun. 

Gelatine. 
Albumen. 
Saline  and  earthy  substances  (small 

quantity.) 
Osmazome. 
Odorous  oil  (a  minute  trace.) 


East  Indian  Isinglass 


The  relative  proportions  of  gelatine  and  albumen  in  three  specimens  of  East  Indian 
isinglass  were,  according  to  Mr.  E.  Solly,  jun.,  as  follows: — 

Isinglass.  Soluble  Gelatine.  Insoluble.  Mbumen. 

100     .  .  .        .     86-5     .         .         .        .         .         .     13-5 

100     .  .  .        .90-9 9-1 

100    .  .  .        .    92-8 '  .      7-2 

When  isinglass  is  reduced  to  small  shreds  (picked  or  cut  isinglass)  it  is  scarcely  possible 
to  distinguish,  by  the  age,  some  of  the  inferior  from  the  finer  kinds.  The  best  criteria  are 
its  whiteness,  freedom  from  unpleasant  odor,  and  its  complete  solubility  in  water. 

Isinglass  Is  a  very  pure  form  of  gelatine,  and  is  employed  in  the  preparation  of  jellies, 
blanc-mange,  &c.  It  is  frequently  added  to  fruit  jellies,  (see  p.  70,)  to  give  them  firmness 
or  stiffness.  Dissolved  in  milk,  and  flavored  with  sugar,  lemon,  and  some  aromatic,  it  is 
frequently  taken  in  the  liquid  state  by  convalescents  with  advantage,  when  recovering 
from  the  effects  of  extreme  debility,  (as  that  brought  on  by  hemorrhage ;)  but  this  form 
of  exhibition  does  not  suit  all  stomachs. 

Isinglass  is  also  used  in  domestic  economy  as  a  clarifying,  clearing,  or  fining  agent  for 
coffee,  wine,  beer,  &c.  For  this  purpose  it  is  extensively  used  by  brewers,*  who  employ 
principally  the  Brazilian  variety. 

2.  Cod  Sounds. — These  are  analogous  to  isinglass,  being  prepared  from  the  swimming 

pp.  1859  and  1861,  vol.  ii.  ed.  2d,  1842.)  The  innermost  membrane  of  cod  sounds  and  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  and  East  Indian  isinglasses,  is  insoluble  in  water.  If  the  Siberian  purse  isinglass  be  carefully  ex- 
amined, the  bag  will  be  found  to  have  been  deprived  of  its  innermost  lining. 

*  Mr.  Metcalfe,  who  supplied  me  with  the  table  of  isinglass  already  given,  (p.  104,)  has  kindly  furnish- 
ed me  with  the  following  information  as  to  the  mode  of  preparing  apd  using  isinglass  for  beer-finings. 

"  I  herewith  beg  to  hand  you  such  particulars  as  have  come  under  my  own  observation  as  to  the 
method  generally  adopted  by  brewers  in  their  mode  of  preparing  isinglass  for  beer-finings,  and  the  way 
in  which  it  is  customarily  applied.  Firstly,  with  regard  to  the  more  insoluble  sorts,  such  as  the  Lump 
Brazilian  and  common  Book  Glasses,  as  much  should  be  put  in  a  cask  as  il.  is  likely  will  be  required  for 
three  months'  consumption;  to  this  should  be  added  just  sufficient  of  strong  sours  to  cover  the  isinglass, 
and  as  it  swells  above  the  liquor  iresh  sours  of  the  first  strength  should  be  added  daily,  covering  the 
isinglass  to  the  depth  of  about  3  inches  in  the  liquor  after  it,  has  done  swelling.  It  is  a  practice  with 
some  brewers  to  add  a  small  quantity  of  pyroligneous  acid  to  cut  or  dissolve  it  the  more  quickly,  though 
if  the  first  sours  are  good,  and  care  is  taken  that  the  fresh,  added  from  time  to  time  during  the  process  of 
swelling,  is  of  equal  strength,  the  pyroligneous  acid  may  be  advantageously  dispensed  with  :  care  should 
be  taken  not  to  add  more  sours  than  is  just  necessary.  In  this  state  they  should  be  well  stirred  up  fre- 
quently with  a  stiff  birch-broom,  or  some  similar  instrument,  which  materially  assists  the  cutting  or  dis- 
Bolving.  The  liquor  should  be  used  in  a  cold  state,  or  at  a  very  moderate  heat,  as  by  using  it  hot  it 
would  form  a  jelly,  and  be  perfectly  useless  as  finings.  It  having  become  thoroughly  dissolved  or  cut 
by  the  cold  sours,  it  may  be  kept  for  any  length  of  time  by  being  frequently  well  stirred  up  as  above 
described. 

In  applying  it  for  use,  a  proportionate  quantity  should  be  taken  to  the  beer  requiring  fining,  and  press- 
ed through  a  horse-hair  sieve  into  as  much  mild  beer  as  will  reduce  it  to  the  consistency  of  thin  treacle  ; 
ol'this  about  one  pint  is  enough  to  fine  a  barrel,  (3fi  gals.,)  unless  the  beer  is  what  is  termed  stubborn,  when 
it  will  take  sometimes  double  the  quantity.  One  pound  of  good  Brazilian  isinglsss,  if  treated  in  th« 


106  ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLES. 

bladder  of  the  Common  Cod,  (Morrlma  vtigaris.)  In  the  dried  state  they  are  brought 
from  Scotland,  and  are  used  as  a  substitute  for  isinglass.  They  are,  however,  usually 
preserved  soft  by  salting,  and  dressed  for  the  table.  The  glue  obtained  by  boiling  the 
cod  sounds  does  not  gelatinize,  but  dries  into  a  hard  brown  substance,  which  may  be  em- 
ployed to  glue  pieces  of  wooa  together.* 

3.  Dry  and  Hard  Gelatine. — This  is  a  pure  kind  of  glue  prepared  for  dietetical  use. 
Nelson's  Patent  Opaque  Gelatine  (called,  in  the  specification  of  the  patent,f  gelatine  of  the 
first  quality)  is  prepared,  by  preference,  from  "  the  cuttings  of  the  hides  of  beasts  or  of  the 
skins  of  calves,"  "  freed  from  hair,  flesh,  and  fat."     It  is  sold  in  the  form  of  cuttings.     I 
have  been  furnished  with  a  similar  kind  of  gelatine,  prepared  by  another  maker,  under 
the  name  of  Pale  Gelatine  English  Machine  cut.     A  third  kind  of  gelatine  is  met  with  in 
the  shops,  under  the  name  of  French  Gelatine  or  Grenetine.\     It  occurs  in  sheets,  or  thin 
plates  or  cakes,  marked  by  the  nets  in  which  it  has  been  dried.     White  grenetine  of  the 
first  quality  is  transparent,  inodorous,  tasteless,  arid  almost  colorless.     Colored  grenetine 
is  rose-red,  yellow,  blue,  or  green.     Grenetine  is  extracted  from  bones,  either  by  the  pro- 
longed action  of  boiling  water  under  pressure,  or  by  first  digesting  the  bones  in  dilute 
hydrochloric  acid,  arid  afterwards  submitting  them  to  the  action  of  boiling  water.} 

These  different  kinds  of  gelatine  are  employed  in  the  preparation  of  jellies,  blanc- 
manges, soups,  gravies,  &c.,  as  substitutes  for  isinglass  and  calves'  feet,  to  which  I  con- 
sider them  inferior  in  nutritive  power  and  digestibility.  For  it  is  well  known  that  gela- 
tinous substances,  when  subjected  to  the  prolonged  action  of  water  and  heat,  suffer 
changes  in  their  chemical  properties ;  and  the  French  Ge:atine  Commission  has  shown 
that  the  nutritive  qualities  of  at  least  one  gelatinous  tissue  (bone)  are  diminished  or  even 
destroyed  by  submitting  it  either  to  decoction  in  water  or  to  the  action  of  hydrochloric 
acid;  or  by  resolving  it  into  gelatine.  It  is  not,  therefore,  too  much  to  assume  that  the 
different  operations  to  which  the  gelatinous  tissues,  used  in  the  preparation  of  gelatine, 
are  subjected,  must  deteriorate  the  dietetical  qualities  of  the  product  More' 
knowledge  of  the  substances  from  which  commercial  gelatine  is  procured,  is  not  calcula- 
ted to  create  an  appetite  for  foods  obtained  from  such  sources. 

4.  Hartshorn. — Shavings  or  raspings  of  the  antlers  of  the  stag,  commonly  called  harts- 
horn shavings,  are  employed  in  the  preparation  of  jellies  and  gelatinous  solutions.     Their 
composition  is  as  follows  : — 

COMPOSITION  OF  HARTSHORN. 

Soluble  cartilage 27-0 

Siihphosphate  of  lime 57-5 

Carbonate  oflime              1-0 

Water  and  loss          .                          14-5 


Total 1WM 

manner,  will  make  15  gallons  of  strong  fminga  The  liquid  finings  having  been  thus  prepared,  about 
one  pint  should  be  whisked  up  with  about  a  gallon  of  the  beer  from  each  barrel  intended  to  fine,  and 
then  poured  in  through  the  bung-hole  <uf  t!io  c:isk.  Under  some  circumstances  a  small  quantity  of  strong 
infusion  of  hops,  added  after  the  finings,  will  cause  a  perfect  precipitation  of  all  the  impurities  in  tlie 
beer,  and  leave  it  thoroughly  cleansed  and  bright  after  standing  a  few  hours.  The  only  ad\ 
gained  by  using  the  more  expensive  qualities  of  isinglass  are,  that  the  process  of  cutting  or  dissolving  is 
less  tedious,  the  fine  Long  Staple,  Siberian  Purse,  and  Astrakhan  Pickings,  not  requiring  above  43  hours 
for  preparing,  and  that  a  milder  Alegar  will  answer  the  purpose  of  cutting  it ;  it  may  also  possess  some 
advantages  in  purity,  for  fine  ales.  Its  mode  of  application  should  be  similar  to  that,  given  for  the  Bra- 
zilian and  Book."  *  Thomson's  Animal  Chemistry,  p.  216. 

t  For  the  specification,  see  The  Mechanic  and  Chemist  for  1840. 

t  The  word  Grenetine  is  derived  irom   Grenet,  the  name  of  the  first  manufacturer  who  supplied  a 
white,  transparent,  and  very  pure  gelatine  for  sale.     Grenetine  is  now  made  by  31.  Grenet  fils,  of  Rouen. 

§  Lecanu,  Cours  Completde  Pharmacie,  t.  i.  p.  451.     1842. 


HARTSHORN.— COMMON  SALT.  107 

By  boiling,  the  cartilage  is  resolved  into  gelatine ;  and  the  decoction,  if  sufficiently  con- 
centrated, gelatinizes  on  cooling.  Bones  cannot  be  substituted  for  hartshorn,  on  account 
of  the  fat  they  contain.  Decoction  of  Hartshorn  is  prepared  by  boiling  one  ounce  of  the 
shavings  in  four  pints  of  water,  down  to  two  pints.  When  sweetened,  it  is  sometimes 
taken  as  a  mild  demulcent  and  emollient  drink,  in  intestinal  and  pulmonary  irritation. 
An  elegant  Hartshorn  Jelly  is  prepared  by  boiling  down  half  a  pound  of  the  shavings  in 
three  quarts  of  water  to  one  quart,  and  adding  to  the  strained  liquor  an  ounce  of  Seville 
orange  or  of  lemon  juice,  a  quarter  of  a  pint  of  mountain  wine,  and  half  a  pound  of  fine 
sugar  ;  and  boiling  down  the  mixture  to  a  due  consistence.*  It  is  sometimes  used,  as  a 
grateful  kind  of  aliment,  by  invalids  and  convalescents. 

5.  Several  gelatinous  tissues,  besides  those  already  noticed,  are  employed  in  the  pre- 
paration of  jellies  and  gelatinous  liquids,  (as  soups.)  Thus  a  jelly  is  obtained  from  Calves' 
Feet  ;  and  Calves'  Heads  are  used  in  the  preparation  of  mock-turtle  soup.  These  sub- 
stances yield,  by  boiling,  an  oily  or  fatty  matter,  as  well  as  gelatine.  Cows'  Heels,  Sheeps' 
Trailers,  and  Petit-toes  (sucking  pigs'  feet)  abound  in  gelatinous  tissues,  for  which  they 
are  principally  employed  as  aliments. 

12.  THE  SALINE  ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLE. 

Saline  matters  are  essential  constituents  of  the  blood,  of  the  organized  tissues,  and  of 
the  secretions.  They  are,  therefore,  necessary  components  of  our  food  ;  for  without  them 
health  and  vitality  cannot  be  maintained. 

The  alimentary  salts,  which,  on  account  of  their  occurring  more  frequently  and  large- 
ly in  the  system,  may  be  regarded  as  of  the  most  importance  in  a  dietetical  point  of  view, 
are  Common  Salt  and  the  Earthy  Phosphates.  Ferruginous  compounds  (salts  1)  and 
probably  salts  of  Potash,  are  also  indispensable  ingredients  of  our  food. 

1.  Common  Salt,  (Chloride  of  Sodium.)— Though,  salt  is  a  constituent  of  most  of  our 
foods  and  drinks,  we  do  not,  in  this  way,  obtain  a  sufficient  supply  of  it  to  satisfy  the 
wants  of  the  system  ;  and  nature  has  accordingly  furnished  us  with  an  appetite  for  it. 
The  salt,  therefore,  which  we  consume  at  our  table  as  a  condiment,  in  reality  serves 
other  and  far  more  important  purposes  in  the  animal  economy,  than  that  of  merely  grati- 
fying the  palate.  It  is  ?  necessary  article  of  foo'l,  be;ng  ssse'itial  for  the  p/esei  nation  of 
health  and  the  maintenance  of  life. 

It  forms  an  essential  constituent  of  blood,  which  fluid  doubtless  owes  many  of  its  im- 
portant qualities  to  it.  Thus  it  probably  contributes  to  keep  the  blood  corpuscles  un- 
changed ;  for  when  these  are  put  into,  water  a  powerful  and  rapid  endosmose  takes  place, 
in  consequence  of  which  they  swell  up  and  assume  a  globular  form  ;  whereas  in  a  weak 
solution  of  salt  they  remain  unchanged.  In  malignant  cholera,  and  some  other  diseases 
in  which  there  is  a  deficiency  of  the  saline  ingredients  of  the  blood,  this  fluid  has  a  very 
dark  or  even  black  appearance  ;  whence  it  has  been  assumed  by  some  writers  that  the 
red  color  of  the  blood  is  dependent  on  the  presence  of  its  saline  ingredients.  From  the 
salt  of  the  blood,  aided  by  water,  the  gastric  juice  derives  its  hydrochloric  acid,  and  the 
blood  and  the  bile  their  soda,  (see  p.  35,  foot-note,  and  p.  40.)  The  soda  which  exists  in 
the  blood  in  combination  with  albumen,  passes  out  of  the  system  in  union  with  organic 
matter,  (C70  H66  N2  O22)  represented  by  choleic  acid:  in  other  words,  bile  contains  the  ele- 
ments ofchloleate  of  soda,  though  not  necessarily  arranged  as  such.  Lastly,  "  the  soda, 
which  his  been  used  in  the  vital  processess,  and  any  excess  of  soda,  must  be  expelled  in 
the  form  of  salt,  after  being  separated  from  the  blood  by  the  kidney,"  (Liebig.) 

T  *  Lewis's  Matena  Medico. 


108 


ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLES. 


It  has  been  calculated  that  the  average  annual  consumption  of  salt  by  an  adult  amounts 
to  16  Ibs. ;  equal  to  about  5  ounces  per  week. 

The  salt  consumed  in  this  country  is  obtained  principally  from  fossil  or  rock  salt  and 
by  the  evaporation  of  the  water  of  brine  springs.  The  salt  districts  are  North wich,  Mid- 
dlewich,  and  Nan.wich,  in  Cheshire;  Shirleywich,  in  Staffordshire;  and  Droitwich,  in 
Worcestershire  Salt  is  also  procured  in  Durham.  In  some  parts  of  England,  as  at 
Lyrnington  in  Hampshire,  and  some  parts  of  Scotland,  salt  is  procured  by  the  evapora- 
t-on  of  sea- water.* 

The  email-grained  salt  is  formed  by  the  strongest  heat,  and  constitutes  the  butter,  stov- 
.eti  lump,  and  basket  sail  of  commerce  ;  while  the  larger  crystals,  forming  the  bay  and  fishery 
sal's,  are  formed  at  a  lower  temperature.  For  table  use,  for  salting  butter,  and  for  vari- 
ous domestic  purposes,  the  small-grained  salt  is  preferred.  It  is  also  employed  for 
making  the  pickle  for  striking  the  meat,  which  is  the  first  part  of  the  process  in  curing 
fish  and  preserving  animal  flesh.  .The  coarse  or  large-grained  salt  is  preferred  for  the 
packing  and  preservation  of  fish  and  other  provisions.  For  these  purposes  it  is  greatly 
superior  to  the  small-grained  salt :  hence  it  is  technically  termed  a  stronger  salt.  Its 
superiority  depends,  not  on  any  difference  in  its  chemical  composition,  but  on  its  greater 
cohesiveness  and  hardness  of  texture,  whereby  it  dissolves  much  less  readily. 

Common  salt,  or  chloride  of  sodium,  formerly  called  muriate  of  soda,  has  the  following 
composition  : — 

COMPOSITION  OF  CHLORIDE  OF  SODHM. 


1  equivalent  of  Chlorine 
1  equivalent  of  Sodium 


I  36  or  per  cent. 
|  24  or  per  cent. 


40 


1  equivalent  of  Chloride  of  Sodium 


60  or  Chloride  of  Sodium       100 


A  little  water  is  frequently  lodged  (mephankally)  between  the  plates  of  the  crystals. 
Common  salt,  as  found  in  commerce,  is  not  absolutely  pure  ;  being  contaminated  with 


ie  other  salts.     The  following  table  shows  the  composition  of  several  varieties  of 
ording  to  the  analyses  of  Dr.  Henry  :  — 

salt, 

COMPOSITION  OF  VARIOUS  KINDS  OF  SALT,  (IIEMtV. 

1000  Parts  by  Weight  consist  of 

Kind  of  Salt. 

2 

|2i 

Muriate  of 
Lime. 

«    01 

Total  KarJhy 
.Muriates. 

Sulphate  of 
Lime. 

Sulphate  of 
Magii' 

TVrtal 

SlllpllMlrS. 

ublo 
Matter, 

'~  =. 

>>^.  1  St.  tJbe's    
23^3  ]  St.  Martin's     .... 
*-  ^  (  Oleron    . 

1)60 
959* 
964* 

935* 
971 

D37 
988 

983* 
986 
983* 
982* 

trace 
do. 
do. 

0-1-16 

°'i 
o4 

3 
3* 

2 

28 
11* 
11 
5 

0-3-16 
9-t 

3 
3* 
2 

23 
11* 
11 
5 

o-i 

1 

19 

15 
12 
15 
1 

6* 
111 

14* 
15* 

4* 
6 
4* 

17* 
4* 
35 
5 

I 

28 
25 
231 

32* 
16* 
50 
6 

6* 

:u 

14* 
15* 

9 

12 
10 

4 

2 
1 

10 

1 
1 

10 
40* 
35* 

61* 

63 
12 

16f 
13* 
16* 
17  i 

^  B  f  Scotch  (common)     .     . 
"a  z  J  Scotch  (Sunday)      .     . 
.  £  ;  Lymington  (common) 
•n  °  1  Ditto  (cat)  . 

£      f  Crushed  rock     . 
JE  -*  J  Fishery 

v.  "3  J  *  louoi  y    . 

«  03  J  (  ommon     
y      l^Stoved             .... 

*  Appendix,  W. 

r 


CHLORIDE  OF  SODIUM.  109 


Besides  its  use  at  the  table  as  a  flavoring  or  seasoning  agent,  salt  is  extensively  em- 
ployed in  the  preservation  and  curing  of  alimentary  substances. 

Its  antiseptic  power  is  by  no  means  well  understood.  It  is  usual  to  ascribe  it  to  the 
desiccating  influence  of  the  salt,  but  the  explanation  is  not  a  satisfactory  one.  A  dry 
bladder,,  says  Liebig,  remains  more  or  less  dry  in  a  saturated  solution  of  common  salt. 
The  solution  runs  off  its  surface  in  the  same  manner  that  water  runs  from  a  plate  of 
glass  besmeared  with  tallow.  "'Fresh  flesh,  over  which  salt  has  been  strewed,  is  found, 
after  24  hours,  swimming  in  brine,  although  not  a  drop  of  water  has  been  added.  The 
water  has  been  yielded  by  muscular  fibre  itself,  and  having  dissolved  the  salt  in  immedi- 
ate contact  with  it,  and  thereby  lost  the  power  of  penetrating  animal  substances,  it  has 
on  this  account  separated  from  the  flesh.  The  wate4*  still  retained  by  the  flesh  contains 
a  proportionally  small  quantity  of  salt,  having  that  degree  of  dilution  at  which  a  saline 
fluid  is  capable  of  penetrating  animal  substances.  This  property  of  animal  tissues  is 
taken  advantage  of  in  domestic  economy  for  the  purpose  of  removing  so  much  water 
from  meat  that  a  sufficient  quantity  is  not  left  to  enable  it  to  enter  into  putrefaction."* 

But  the  fact,  that  a  dilute  aqueous  solution  of  salt  possesses  antiseptic  properties,  appears 
to  me  to  render  Liebig's  explanation  inadmissible  ;  and  we  are  compelled,  therefore,  to 
admit  that  the  preservative  power  depends  either  on  the  chemical  combination  of  the  salt 
with  the  organic  tissues,f  or  on  occult  causes  more  or  less  analogous  to  those  which  pre- 
vent the  development  of  the  volatile  oils  of  black  mustard  and  bitter  almonds,  when  in 
contact  with  mineral  acids  and  salts. 

2.  Earthy  Phosphates. — These  are  almost  universal  constituents  of  the  ashes  of  animal 
tissues.  From  their  constant  presence,  we  cannot  suppose  them  to  be  accidental  :  we 
have  a  right  to  infer  that  they  are  in  some  way  necessary  to  vitality. 

Phosphoric  acid  and  lime  combine  together  in  several  proportions.  Of  these  combina- 
tions two  have  been  found  in  the  human  solids  and  fluids.  The  bone  subphosphate  of 
lime  (8  Ca  O  H-  6  PO1'5)  is  by  far  the  most  frequently  met  with  calcareous  phosphate.  It 
constitutes  the  principal  part  of  the  earthy  matter  of  bones,  and  is  probably  the  calcareous 
phosphate  usually  found  in  the  ashes  of  animal  tissues.  According  to  Dr.  Wollaston,| 
it  exists  in  ossifications  of  arteries,  veins,  valves  of  the  heart,  bronchise,  and  tendinous 
portion  of  the  diaphragm,  as  well  as  in  the  tartar  of  the  teeth.  According  to  the  same 
authority,  the  neutral  phosphate  of  lime  (Ca  O  +  PO2'5)  exists  in  the  urine,  from  which  it 
is  sometimes  deposited  in  a  pulverulent  form.  The  phosphate  of  lime  calculus,  prostatic 
calculi,  and  pineal  concretions,  also  contain  the  neutral  phosphate. 

Phosphate  of  magnesia,  though  of  very  frequent  occurrence,  is  formed  in  the  animal 
solids  and  fluids  in  very  small  quantities  only.  Sometimes  it  exists  in  combination  with 
ammonia,  (ammoniacal  phosphate  of  magnesia.} 

The  system  obtains  its  supply  of  earthy  phosphates  from  both  vegetable  and  animal 
foods,  (see  pp.  29-31,  and  36.)  Corn,  potatoes,  milk,  and  the  flesh  and  blood  of  animals, 

*  Liebig,  Chemistry  inits  Application  to  Agriculture  and  Physiology,  2d  ed.  35-67.     1842. 

t  The  conservative  efficacy  of  bichloride  of  mercury,  sulphate  of  copper,  and  some  other  metallic 
salts,  depends  on  the  union  of  these  substances  with  the  animal  matter;  and  the  formation  of  compounds 
which  are  not  subject  to  the  putrefactive  process.  Chemists,  however,  have  hitherto  refused  to  admit 
that  common  salt,  nitrate  of  potash,  and  some  alkaline  salts,  owe  their  antiseptic  efficacy  to  the  exercise 
of  a  chemical  influence.  But  an  argument  in  favor  of  this  view  may  be  derived  from  the  well-known 
reddening  effect  produced  by  saltpetre  (nitrate  of  potash)  on  beef,  during  the  process  of  curing.  More- 
over, the  augmented  firmness  or  hardness  of  fibre,  possessed  by  old  salted  meats,  is,  I  suspect,  an  evi- 
dence of  chemical  action. 

t  Phil  Trans,  ior  1797. 


110 


COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 


furnish  us  with  more  than  the  wants  of  the  system  require,  and  the  excess  is  eliminated 
in  the  secretions. 

QUANTITY  OF  EARTHY  PHOSPHATES  IN  FOODS. 

JW  Parts.  Earthy  Phosphates.  Authority. 

Wheat  from  0-36  to    0-9       ~) 

Rye        .  .        06    to    4-18 

Barley  .        0-1     tc    0-6 

Oats  .         0  16  tc     0-6 

Rice  .  .       04 

Garlic  .        .  .       H 

Caseine  .        .  6-0 

Milk  .        .  0-1975 

Blood  .        .  0-03 

Bones  (ile'im)  of  sheep  50-58 

(ileum;  of  or      .  45-2 

"       (vertebrae)  of  haddoc  56-03 

Muscular  flesh  of  ox      .  traces 

calf    .  0-1 

"  "        roe     . 

"  "        chicken 

"  "        trout  . 


Braconnot. 

Cadet. 

Berzelius. 

Schwartz. 

Denis. 

Thomson. 


0-6 
2-2 


The  amount  of  earthy  phosphates  in  several  foods  which  contain  these  salts,  has  not 
been  ascertained. 

3.  Potash  Salts.  —  Minute  quantities  of  potash  salts  exist  in  the  ashes  of  blood  an 

eral  of  the  animal  tissues.    They  are  derived  from  both  animal  and  vegetable  food,  (see 
pp.  37  and  93.) 

4.  Ferruginous  Compounds,  —  The  existence  of  iron  in   the  animal  system,  and  the 
sources  of  it,  have  been  already  noticed,  (see  pp.  33-35.)     The  precise  state  in  which 
this  metal  exists  in,  and  is  introduced  into,  the  system,  has  not  been  made  out.     In  some 
cases  it  is  supposed  to  be  in  the  form  of  a  phosphate. 


CHAP.  III. — Of  Compound  Aliments. 

THE  foods  which  consist  of  two  or  more  alimentary  principles,  may  be  conveniently 
termed  Compound  Aliments.  These  it  is  customary  to  divide  into  Solid  Foods  or  Aliments 
Proper,  Liquid  Foods  or  Drinks,  and  Seasoning  Agents  or  Condiments.  This  division, 
though  by  no  means  accurate,  is  both  familiar  and  convenient;  and  I  shall,  therefore, 
adopt  it. 

1.  SOLID  ALIMENTS,  OR  ALIMENTS  PROPER. 

Man  obtains  his  food  from  both  the  animal  and  vegetable  kingdoms.  This  is  almost 
universally  the  case,  and  is  a  strong  confirmation  of  the  correctness  of  the  inference 
drawn  by  the  anatomist  from  the  structure  of  the  entire  human  digestive  apparatus,  that 
man  is  omnivorous.  "It  is  quite  certain,"  says  Dr.  Carpenter,*  "that  the  most  perfect 
physical  development,  and  the  greatest  intellectual  vigor,  are  to  be  found  among  those 
races  in  which  this  [a  mixed]  diet  is  the  prevalent  habit."  Yet  a  modern  writer,f  who 
eloquently  and  ably  advocates  the  exclusive  use  of  vegetable  food,  declares  that  "  the  ad- 
herence to  the  use  of  animal  food  is  no  more  than  a  persistence  in  the  gross  customs  of 

*  Principles  of  Human  Physiology,  p.  349.     1842. 

t  Dr.  Lomhe,  Additional  Reports  on  the  Effects  of  a  Peculiar  Regimen,  p.  243.     1915. 


ANIMAL  FOODS. 


Ill 


savage  life  ;  and  evinces  an  insensibility  to  the  progress  of  reason,  and  to  the  operation  of 
intellectual  improvement"  !  !* 

SECT.  1.— ANIMAL  FOODS. 

Exclusive  of  water  and  saline  matters,  we  obtain,  from  animal  foods.  Proteinaceous, 
Gelatinous,  and  Fatty  alimentary  principles ;  to  which  must  be  added,  in  the  case  of  milk, 
Sugar. 

These  are  derived  from  flesh,  blood,  viscera,  bones,  cartilages,  ligaments,  cellular  tissue, 
the  milk  of  the  mammals,  and  the  eggs  of  some  of  the  oviparous  animals. 

The  proximate  composition  of  the  muscular  flesh  of  different  animals  has  been  ex- 
amined by  Mr.  Brandef  and  more  recently  by  Schlossberger  :|  their  results  are  as  fol- 
lows : — 


COMPOSITION  OF  MUSCLE,  ACCORDING  TO  MR.  BRANDE. 


100  Parts 
Muscle  of 

Beef 

Veal 

Mutton 

Pork 

Chicken 

Cod 

Haddock 

Sole 


Water. 
74 
75 
71 
76 
73 
79 
82 
79 


A'bumen 
or  Fibrine. 

20 
19 
22 
19 
20 
14 
13 
15 


Gelatine. 
6 
6 
7 
5 
7 
7 
5 


Total  of  Nutri- 
tive Matter. 

26 
25 
29 
24 
27 
21 
18 
21 


COMPOSITION  OF  MUSCULAR  FLESH,  ACCORDING  TO  SCHLOSSBERGER. 


Ox. 

Calf. 

Pig. 

Roe. 

Pigeon. 

Chicken. 

Carp. 

Trout. 

Flesh,  Vessels,   nerves,  ) 
and  cellular  tissue  .    $ 

17-5 

15—16-2 

16-8 

18-0 

17-0 

16-5 

12-0 

11-1 

Soluble   albumen  and  he-  ) 

2-2 

3-2  —  2-6 

2-4 

2-3 

4-5 

3-0 

5-2 

4-4 

Alcoholic,  extract  with  salts 

1-5 

11  —  1-4 

1-7  J 

O-4. 

1-0 

1-4 

1-0 

1-6 

Watery  extract  with  salts  . 

13 

1-0  —  1-6 

0-8  J 

1-5 

1-2 

1-7 

0-2 

Phosphate  of  lime  contain-  ) 
ing  albumen     .     .     .      $ 

traces 

0-1—  traces 

traces 

0-4 

— 

0-6 

2-2 

Water  and  loss       .... 

77-5 

79-7  —78-2 

78-3 

76-9 

76-0 

77-3 

80-1 

80-5 

100-0 

100-0—  JOO-0 

100-0 

100-0 

100-0 

100-0 

100-0 

100-0 

A  very  large  number  of  animals  is  used,  in  different  parts  of  the  world,  as  food.     In 
this   work,   however,  I   purpose  speaking  of  those  only  which  are  employed  in  Eng- 


CLASS  I.  MAMMALIA  -MAMMALS. 

In  England,  the  mammals,  employed  by  man  as  food,  are,  the  Ox,  the  Sheep,  the 
Hog,  the  Deer,  the  Rabbit,  and  the  Hare. 

These  animals  furnish  their  Bones,  Cartilages,  Tendons,  Aponeuroses,  Ligaments, 
Cellular  Tissue,  Fat,  Muscles  or  Flesh,  Viscera,  Blood,  and  Milk,  as  alimentary  sub- 
stances. 

1.  Bones.  —  The  bones  of  the  ox  and  sheep  are  those  principally  which  sen  ?  for  aliment- 
ary purposes.  Their  composition,  exclusive  of  the  marrow  (see  p.  87)  whi  h  they  con- 
tain, is  as  follows  :  — 

*  Appends  ,  X.  t  Manual  of  Chwmstry. 

t  Fharmaccutisches  Central~Blalt,  1842,  p.  41. 

$  For  an  account  of  other  animals  used  as  food,  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  article  Aliment,  in  the 
Encyclopaedia  MetropolUana,  and  Lardner's  Cabinet  Clyclopxdia,  Domestic  Economy,  vol.  ii  ,  by  Mr. 
Donovan. 


112 


COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 


COMPOSITION  OF  BONE,  (THOMSON.) 

Ox.  Sheep. 

Ilium  or  Haunch-bone. 


Ilium. 


Tibia. 


Cartilage 
Phosphate  of  lime 
Carbonate  of  lirne 
Magnesia 
Soda 
Potash 

48-5 
45-2 
6-1 
0-24 
0-20 
0-11 

43-30_  47-20 
50-58—  46-35 
4-49—    4-88 
0-86—    064 
0-31—    2-09 
0-19—    0-25 

51-97 
40-42 
7-03 
0-22 
0-19 
traces 

i 

100-35 

99-73—  101-41 

/ 

.i_ 

99-83 

By  digesting  bones  in  hydrochloric  acid  they  are  deprived  of  part  of  their  earthy  salts. 
They  are  then  semi-transparent,  flexible,  and  elastic ;  and  have  a  fatty  smell  and  an  acid 
taste.  In  this  state  they  are  known  in  France  under  the  name  of  Alimentary  gelatine. 
Their  composition  is  as  follows  : — 

COMPOSITION    OF    BONES    WHICH    HAVE    BEEN    DIGESTED    IN    HYDROCHLORIC 


HAVE    BEEN 
ACID. 


Water 
Fat 


Sli  rep's  feet  bones. 
5-55 


Matter  which   may  be  transformed  into)  1<rQn 

gelatine  *        .        .        .  $ 

Earthy  phosphates  and  other  salts        .        .  12-42 

Insoluble  animal  matter        ....  17-51 


Ox-head  bones. 
22-87 
1154 

27-99 

3277 
4-83 


100-00        .        .        .10000 

The  cartilage  of  bone,  after  ossification  has  taken  place,  is  resolved  by  boiling  into  collin 
or  common  gelatine,  (see  p.  99.)  Hence  bones  are  employed  in  domestic  economy  for 
the  preparation  of  soups.  But  the  quantity  of  gelatine  extractabie  from  bones  by  the 
ordinary  mode  of  boiling,  is  comparatively  small.  To  increase  it,  Papin*  proposed  to  ex- 
pose them  to  the  action  of  water  and  steam  under  pressure.  By  this  means  he  declared 
that  he  could. make  the  oldest  and  hardest  cow  as  tender  and  well-flavored  as  the  finest 
meat !  ! 

At  the  commencement  of  the  French  revolution,  the  attention  of  every  one  in  France 
was  directed  to  the  improvement  of  the  food  for  the  poor  and  for  the  army.  All  were 
agreed  in  employing  for  this  purpose  bones.  The  government,  led  away  by  the  en- 
thusiastic reports  of  scientific  men,  (Proust,  d'Arcet,  Pelletier,  Cadet  de  Vaux,  &c^)  issued 
a  public  instruction,  declaring  that  "  a  bone  is  a  tablet  of  soup  formed  by  nature :  a  pound 
of  bone  gives  as  much  soup  as  six  pounds  of  meat:  bone  soup,  in  a  dietetical  point  of 
view,  is  preferable  to  meat  soup."  It  need  scarcely  be  stated  that  these  inflated  expres- 
sions were  gross  exaggerations.  It  is  obvious,  as  Magendie  has  justly  observed,  that  in 
this  hyperbolic  language  the  terms  jelly  (gelatine)  and  nutritive  matter  were  considered 
synonymous.  The  favorable  report  made  by  the  Faculty  of  Medicine,  on  the  nutritive 
and  easily  digestible  properties  of  gelatine,  induced  the  French  administration  des  hospices, 
in  1824,  to  introduce  its  employment  into  the  public  hospitals  of  Paris;  and  for  this  pur- 
pose, in  many  of  these  establishments  d*Arcet's  apparatus  for  obtaining  a  solution  of 
gelatine  from  bones,  by  the  aid  of  steam,  was  fitted  up.  In  most,  if  not  in  all,  its  em- 
ployment was,  however,  soon  abandoned.  At  the  H6tel-Dieu  its  use  was  abolished  in 
consequence  of  t":c  ai.'»vorable  report  given  of  its  properties  by  the  medical  officers  of 
that  institution.  The  report  concludes  with  the  following  summary : — 

1.  The  soup  made  with  the  gelatinous  solution  is  of  bad*  quality. 

2    It  is  more  liable  to  putrefaction  than  soup  prepared  by  the  old  method. 

*  A  New  Digester,  or  Engine  for  Softening  Bones,  4to.  Lond.  1631.— A  Continuation  of  the.  New  Digester 
c/ Bones,  4to.  Lond.  1687. 


FLESH.  113 


3.  Its  taste  is  disagreeable,  and  even  disgusting. 

4.  It  is  less  digestible  than  common  soup,  and  may  even  derange  ine  functions  of  the  digestive  organs 

5.  It  contains  a  smaller  quantity  of  nutritive  matter  than  common  soup. 

6.  Its  nutritive  matter  is  inferior  to  that  contained  in  common  soup. 

This  report,  which  is  dated  November  8th,  1831,  is  signed  by  MM.  Petit,  Recarnier, 
Caillard,  the  Baron  Dupuytren,  Breschet,  Gueneau  de  Mussy,  Honore  Husson,  Sanson, 
Magendie,  Bally,  Henry,  Duval,  and  Gendrin. 

The  nutritive  qualities  of  bone,  as  well  as  of  bone-gelatine,  have  been  already  noticed, 
(see  p.  102.)  The  time  required  for  the  chymification  of  bone  contained  in  a  phial  has 
likewise  been  stated,  (see  p.  102.) 

2.  Cartilages,  Tendons^  Aponeuroses,  and  Ligaments.  —  The  cartilage  of  unossified  parts, 
by  boiling,  yields  chondrine.     Tendons,  (popularly  called  sinews,)  the  aponeuroses,  and 
most  of  the  ligaments,  by  long  boiling,  yield  collin.     All  these,  therefore,   are  gelatinous 
tissues,  and  have  been  before  noticed,  (see  pp.  100-102.)    The  ligament  nucluc  (commonly 
termed  pack-wax)  of  ruminants  differs,  however,  from  ordinary  ligament.     Though  it 
yields  a  little  gelatine  to  water,  it  does  not  soften  or  dissolve  by  long  boiling. 

3.  Cellular  Tissue.  —  This,  by  boiling  in  water,  -becomes  soft,  and  is  ultimately  convert- 
ed into  collin.     It,  therefore,  belongs  to  the  gelatinous  substances,  (see  p.  99.) 

4.  Fat.  —  The  fat  of  mammals  is  lodged  in  the  cells  of  the  adipose  tissue,  which  pro- 
bably is  only  a  modification  of,  if,  indeed,  it  be  not  identical  with,  the  common  cellular  tis- 
sue.    The  animal  fats  have  already  been  described,  (see  p.  80,  et  seq.) 

5.  Muscles  or  Flesh.  —  The  flesh  of  mammals  consists  principally  and  essentially  of  the 
muscles,  intermixed,  however,  with  tendons,  aponeuroses,  fasciae,  nerves,  vessels,  cellular 
tissue,  blood,  serum,  and  fat.     That  part  of  the  flesh  which  consists  of  muscle  without 
the  iatty  and  other  matters,  is  called  the  lean. 

The  chemical  constituents  of  flesh  are  the  following  :  — 

CONSTITUENTS  OF  FLESH. 

Water.  Fatty  matter  Gelatinous  matter. 

Osmazome.  Albumen.  Peculiar  nervous  matter. 

Fibrine.  Creatine.  Hematosine. 
Salts. 


Osmazome  (from  farf,  a  smell,  and  £Wjudj,  broth  or  soup)  is  an  alcoholic  extract  obtained 
from  the  flesh,  brain,  and  other  parts  of  animals.  It  has  a  reddish  brown  color,  and  the 
smell  and  taste  of  soup.  It  is  generally  mixed  with  lactic  acid,  the  lactates,  and  common 
salt/  To  this  principle,  broths  and  soups  owe  their  flavor  and  smell,  and  part  of  their 
nutritive  qualities. 

The  substance  called,  by  its  discoverer,  Chevreul,*  creatine,  (from  Kp/aj,  flesh,)  is  a  nitro- 
genous, crystallizable  substance,  insoluble  in  alcohol. 

Liebigf  calculates  that  ordinary  meat,  as  bought  from  the  butcher,  contains  about  one 
seventh  of  its  weight  of  fat  and  cellular  tissue  ;  and  that  meat  devoid  of  fat  contains,  on 
the  average,  74  per  cent,  water,  and  26  dry  matter  ;  the  latter  of  which  contains  13-6  parts 
of  carbon.  On  these  assumptions,  therefore,  100  parts  of  ordinary  butcher's  meat  has 
the  following  composition  :  — 

COMPOSITION  OF  ORDINARY  BUTCHER'S  MEAT. 

(Water  .....  63-418 

Meat  devoid  of  fat  .  .  .  85-7  }  Dry  matter  containing  11-6552  >  oo  OQO 

(  parts  of  carbon  .  .  \  Z*292 

Fat,  cellular  tissue,  &c  ........  ...  14-300 

Ordinary  Butcher's  meat        '.        '.        '.        !         '.        '.        '.        '.       100-000 
*  Journal  de  Chimie  Med.  t.  viii.  p.  548.  t  Animal  Chemistry,  p.  286. 


COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 


The  following  are  analyses  of  the  muscular  flesh  of  the  ox : — 
COMPOSITION  OF  BEEF  FLESH. 


Muscular  fibre,  vessels,  and  nerves        15-8 ' 

Cellular  tissue  convertible  into  gela- 
tine by  boiling          .        .        .  1-9  _ 

Soluble  albumen  and  coloring  matter 

Phosphate  of  lime  and  albumen 

Alcoholic  extract  with  salts  (osmazome)  . 

Aqueous  extract  with  salts 

Lactate  and  phosphate  of  potash,  and  com- , 
mon  salt         ......< 

Water 


Lean  of  Beef. 

(Berzelius.) 

Heart  of  .in 
Ox. 
(Braconnot.) 

17-70 

18-196 

2-20     ) 
0-03      ( 
1-80 
1-05 

2-733 
1-566 

. 

0-465 

77-17 

77-036 

100-00 

100-000 

The  analyses  of  Brande  and  Schlossberger  have  been  already  given,  (p.  111.) 
The  fibrine  of  the  muscular  flesh  of  different  animals  is  very  uniform  in  its  chemical 
properties,  and  appears  to  be  identical  in  its  composition.  The  flesh  of  the  mammalia  of 
the  chase  is  of  a  darker  color,  and  is  sometimes  called  black  meat ;  while  that  of  the  rab- 
bit, after  boiling,  is  pale,  and  may  be  termed  while  meat.  The  quantity  of  blood  in  the 
flesh  of  animals  augments  with  their  age.  Schlossberger  found  it  to  be  inversely  to  that 
of  the  water,  but  directly  to  that  of  the  fibrine.  To  augment  the  whiteness  of  veal,  it  is 
said  that  butchers  sometimes  repeatedly  bleed  calves,  by  which  an  anaemic  state  is  in- 
duced. Young  meats  yield,  hy  boiling,  a  larger  amount  of  gelatine  than  old  meats. 
Every  one  is  probably  familiar  with  the  fact  that  the  gravy  of  lamb  more  readily  gelatin- 
izes when  cold  than  that  of  mutton.  The  osmazome  augments  with  the  age  of  the  ani- 
mal. The  flesh  of  wild  animals,  as  the  stag  and  the  roe,  contains  a  very  small  quantity 
of /a/,  compared  with  that  of  the  well-fed  domesticated  animals,  as  the  sheep  and  hog. 

The  ultimate  composition  of  flesh  is  identical  with  that  of  blood.  "  The  analyses  of 
Playfair  and  Boeckmann,"  says  Liebig,  "  give  for  flesh  (fibrine,  albumen,  cellular  tissue, 
and  nerves)  and  for  blood,  as  the  most  exact  expression  for  their  numerical  results,  one 
and  the  same  formula,  namely,  C48  N6  H39  O".  This  may  be  called  the  empirical  formula 
of  blood.  Moreover,  it  appears  that  roasting  and  boiling  alter  in  no  way  the  composition 
of  animal  food. 

ULTIMATE  COMPOSITION  OF  FLESH  AND  BLOOD. 

Roosted  Flesh. 


Carbon 

Hydrogen 

Nitrogen 

Oxygen 

Ashes 


The  tenderness  of  flesh  is  influenced  by  a  variety  of  circumstances ;  as  age,  sex,  .ean- 
ness  or  fetness,  mode  of  slaughtering,  and  incipient  decomposition.  Thus  the  flesh  of 
young  animals  is  more  tender  than  that  of  old  ones.  That  of  the  entire  male  adult  is 
coarser  and  tougher  than  that  of  the  female.  The  meat  of  the  bull  and  of  the  cow  are 
familiar  illustrations  of  this.  The  flesh  of  castrated  animals  is  not  only  more  delicate, 


Ox  Blood. 

Dry  Beef  Muscle. 

Beef. 

Veal. 

Roe  Deer. 

(Playfair.) 

(Playfair.) 

(Playfair. 

(Playfair.) 

(Boeckmann.) 

51-95 

51.83 

52-590 

5252 

52-60 

7-17 

7-57 

7-888 

7-87 

7-15 

15-07 

15-01 

15-214 

14-70 

1523 

21-39 
4-42 

21-37  ) 
4-23  \ 

24-310 

21-91 

24-72 

luo-uo 

100-00 

100-000 

100-00 

100-00 

FLESH. 


115 


more  tender,  and  finer  grained,  but  has  a  more  agreeable  odor  and  flavor  than  that  of  the 
uncastrated  animal ;  and  a  similar  improvement  in  the  flesh  of  the  female  is  effected  by 
the  operation  of  spaying.  The  flesh  of  lean  animals  is  generally  firmer  than  that  of 
plump  ones,  in  which  the  fibres  are  penetrated  with  fat.  The  mode  of  preparation  for 
slaughter  affects  the  tenderness  of  the  meat.  Hunting,  baiting,  fighting,  and  whipping 
animals  just  before  death,  augments  the  tenderness  of  their  flesh.  With  the  exception  of 
the  first  one,  these  barbarous  and  cruel  practices  are  now  justly  exploded  in  the  most 
civilized  countries  of  the  world.  Another  circumstance  which  promotes  the  tenderness 
of  meat  is  incipient  decomposition  ;  hence  the  flesh  of  most  animals  is  kept  for  sorrie  time 
after  death. 

With  regard  to  digestibility,  Dr.  Beaumont*  found  that  digestion  is  facilitated  by  minute- 
ness of  division  and  tenderness  of  fibre  ;  and  retarded  by  opposite  qualities.  "  Chyrnifi- 
cation,"  he  observes,  "is  most  readily  effected  on  solid  food,  or  rather  on  a  soft  solid, 
which  is  easily  divisible  into  shreds  or  small  particles.  Such  is  particularly  the  character 
of  venison,  which  is  ascertained  to  be  one  of  the  most  digestible  substances.  The  qual- 
ities of  looseness  of  texture  and  susceptibility  of  division  belong  to  most  of  those  wild 
meats  and  game  which  are  generally  acknowledged  to  be  easy  of  digestion.  Beef  and 
mutton,  of  a  certain  age,  possess  similar- qualities." 

As  young  meats  are  more  tender  than  old  meats,  and  as  tenderness  of  fibre  facilitates 
digestion,  it  might  be  expected  that  the  flesh  of  young  animals  would  be  more  digestible 
than  that  of  old  ones  ;  and  this  inference  is  favored  by  the  experiments  of  Dr.  Beaumont, 
who  found  that  roasted  sucking-pig  was  more  speedily  digested  than  broiled  pork-steak, 
and  boiled  fresh  lamb  sooner  than  boiled  fresh  mutton ;  though,  on  the  other  hand  veal 
proved  less  digestible  than  beef. 

DIGESTIBILITY  OF  MEATS. 


MEAN  TIME  OF  CHYMIFICATION. 

ARTICLES  OF 
DIET. 

IN  STOMACH. 

IN  PHIALS. 

Preparation. 

H.    M. 

Preparation. 

H.    M 

Venison  steak 

Broiled 

1     35 

Pig,  sucking           .         .     .    . 

Roasted 

2     30 

Lamb,  fresh  .... 

Broiled 

2     30 

Beef,  with  salt  only 
'•     fresh,  lean,  raw     . 

Boiled 
Roasted 

2     45 
3      0 

Roasted 

9    30 

"    steak     .... 

Broiled 

3      0 

Masticated 

8     15  1 

Pork,  recently  salted     . 

Raw 

3      0 

Raw 

8    30  1 

U                       It                      11 

Stewed 

3      0 

Mutton,  fresh 

Broiled 

3      0 

Masticated 

6    45 

U                         U                         tl 

Boiled 

3      0 

Pork,  recently  salted     . 

Broiled 

3     15 

Pork-steak     .... 

Broiled 

3     15 

Mutton,  fresh 

Roasted 

3     15 

Beef,  fresh,  lean,  diy     . 

Roasted 

3     30 

Roasted 

7    45 

"     with  mustard,  &c. 

Boiled 

3     30 

U                 it                         U 

Fried 

4      0 

12    30 

Veal,  fresh    .        .        .        . 

Broiled 

4      0 

Beef,  old,  hard,  salted  . 

Boiled 

4     15 

Pork,  recently  salted     . 

Fried 

4     15 

Veal,  fresh     .... 

Fried 

4    30 

Pork,  fat  and  lean 

Roasted 

5     15 

*  Op.  ante  cit.  pp.  36  and  142. 


116  COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 


Notwithstanding  the  preceding  'acts,  experience  seems  to  show  that  young  meats  fre- 
quently prove  less  digestible  than  old  ones.  Dr.  Cullen,*  after  stating  that  young  meat 
is  universally  more  soluble  than  old,  ad'ds:  "There  is,  however,  a  difficulty  which  occurs 
here.  Although  from  their  texture  young  meats  are  more  soluble  than  old,  and  appear 
to  be  so  in  decoctions  with  water,  yet  in  some  stomachs  the  young  meats  are  more  slowly 
digested  than  old ;  and  thus  in  some  persons  veal  is  more  slowly  digested  than  beef,  and 
lamb  than  mutton. 

Animal  flesh  is  a  plastic  element  of  nutrition,  (see  p.  16.)  Being  identical,  in  composi- 
tion, with  our  own  flesh  and  blood,  it  requires  neither  addition  nor  subtraction  to  render 
it  nourishing  ;  but  in  order  that  it  may  reach  the  different  organs,  it  is  necessary  that  it 
should  be  reduced  to  a  liquid  form,  (blood.) 

"Muscular  flesh,"  says  Magendie,f  "in  which  gelatine,  albumen,  and  fibrine,  are  com- 
bined according  to  the  laws  of  organic  nature,  and  where  they  are  associated  with  other 
matters,  such  as  fats,  salts,  &c.,  suffices,  even  in  very  small  quantity,  for  complete  and 
prolonged  nutrition."  Dogs  fed  solely  for  120  days  on  raw  meat  from  sheep's  heads  pre- 
served their  health  and  weight  during  this  period  ;  the  daily  consumption  never  exceed- 
ing 300  grammes,  [  =  4630$  grs.  troy,]  and  often  being  less  than  this  quantity.  But  1000 
grammes  [=15434  grs.  troy]  of  isolated  fibrine,  with  the  addition  of  some  hundreds  of 
grammes  of  gelatine  and  albumen,  were  insufficient  to  support  life.  "What,  then,"  ex- 
claims Magendie,  "is  the  peculiar  principle  which  renders  meat  so  perfect  an  aliment? 
Is  it  the  odorous  and  sapid  matter,  which  has  this  function,  as  seems  probable  ?  Do  the 
salts,  the  trace  of  iron,  the  fatty  matters,  and  the  lactic  acid,  contribute  to  the  nutritive  ef- 
fect, notwithstanding  that  they  constitute  so  minute  a  portion  of  meat!" 

The  meats  of  different  species  of  mammals  are  unequally  digestible  and  nutritive :  but 
the  digestibility  of  the  same  kind  of  meat  is  by  no  means  uniform  in  different  individuals. 
Venison,  as  I  have  already  stated,  is  easy  of  digestion ;  but  it  is  generally  considered  to 
be  more  stimulating  than  other  meats,  (e.  g.  mutton  ;)  and,  therefore,  less  fitted  for  con- 
valescents. Occasionally  mutton  disagrees  with  certain  individuals.^  I  know  a  gentle- 
man who  has  repeatedly  had  an  attack  of  indigestion  after  the  use  of  roast  mutton  ;  but 
I  have  reason  to  suppose  that  it  was  caused  by  the  mutton  fat,  and  probably,  therefore, 
depended  on  the  hircic  acid,  (see  p.  83.) 

4.  Viscera. — The  brain,  the  tongue,  the  heart,  the  thymus,  the  liver,  the  kidneys,  and 
the  alimentary  canal  of  quadrupeds,  are  employed  as  food. 

The  following  are  the  mean  times  of  chymification  of  some  of  these,  according  to  Dr. 
Beaumont's  experiments : — 

*  A  Treatise  on  the  Materia  Medica,  vol.  i.  p.  358. 

t  Rapport  fait  a  TAcadtmie  des  Sciences  au  nom  de  la  Commission  dite  de  la  Gelatine.  Comptes  Rendus, 
Aout,  1841. 

\  Dr.  Prout  (On  the  Nature  and  Treatment  of  Stomach  and  Urinary  Disease,  p.  xxx.  3d  ed.)  knew  an 
individual  on  whom  mutton  acted  as  a  poison.  He  "  could  not  eat  mutton  in  any  form.  The  peculiarity 
was  supposed  to  be  owing  to  caprice,  and  the  mutton  was  repeatedly  disguised  and  given  unknown  to  the 
individual ;  but  uniformly  with  the  same  result  of  producing  violent  vomiting  and  diarrho3a.  And  from 
the  severity  of  the  effects,  which  were,  in  fact,  those  of  a  virulent  poison,  there  can  be  little  doubt 
tha*  if  the  use  o£  mutton  had  been  persisted  in,  it  would  soon  have  destroyed  the  life  cf  the  individ- 
ual." 


VISCERA  OF  QUADRUPEDS. 


117 


ARTICLES 
OF 
DIET. 

MEAN  TIME  OF  CHYMIFICATION. 

IN   STOMACH. 

IN  PHIALS. 

Preparation. 

H.    M. 

Preparation. 

H.   M. 

Boiled 
Boiled 
Broiled 
Boiled 
Fried 

1       0 
1     45 
2      0 

2     40 
4      0 

Boiled 
Cut  fine 
Boiled 
Entire  piece 

4    30 
6    30 
5    25 
13    30 

Brains,  ox's   

Liver,  ox's,  fresh  ... 
Spinal  marrow,  ox's  . 
Heart,  animal    

a.  The  brain  contains  about  80  per  cent.  of.  water, 
and  fatly  matters.  The  principal  fat  is  cerebric  acid, 
and  phosphate  of  lime. 

COMPOSITION  OF  CEREBRIC  ACID. 

Carbon     .  .  .  66-7 

Hydrogen 

Nitrogen  . 
Phosphorus 
Oxygen    . 


Its  other  constituents  are  aibumen 
It  exists  free  or  combined  with  soda 


10-6 
2-3 
0-9 

19-5 


100-0 

It  differs,  therefore,  from  ordinary  fats  in  containing  nitrogen  and  phosphorus.  From 
the  proteine  compounds  it  differs  in  containing  so  small  a  proportion  of  nitrogen,  (see 
p.  91.) 

The  other  cerebral  fats  are  oleophosphoric  acid,  (which  contains  about  2  per  cent,  of 
phosphorus,  and  probably  consists  of  oleine  and  phosphorus,)  oleine,  margarine,  small 
quantities  of  oleic  and  margaric  acids,  and  cholesterine. 

In  composition,  then,  brain  may  be  regarded  as  intermediate  between  ordinary  fat  and 
the  proteinaceous  substances.  It  appears,  from  Dr.  Beaumont's  experiments,  (see  p.  116,) 
to  be  somewhat  more  digestible  than  common  fat 

b.  and  c. — The  tongue  and  heart  of  mammals  are  muscular  organs,  (see  p.  114,)  for  the 
composition  of  the  heart  of  the  ox,)  and  in  their  dietetical  properties  agree  with  the  flesh 
of  these  animals. 

d.  The  thymus  of  the  calf  is  employed  as  food,  under  the  name  of  sweetbread.  Its  com- 
position, according  to  Morin,*  is  as  follows  :• — 

COMPOSITION  OF  CALF'S  SWEETBREAD. 

Albumen 14-00 

Osmazome 1'65 

Gelatine 6-00 

Peculiar  animal  fat 0-30 

Margaric  acid 0-05 


Fibrine 
Water 


8-00 
70-00 


Thymus  or  Sweetbread 100-00 

A  fresh  sweetbread,  when  plainly  cooked  (by  boiling)  and  moderately  seasoned,  forms 
a  very  agreeable  and  suitable  dish  for  the  convalescent ;  but  when  highly  dressed,  is  im- 
propei  both  for  dyspeptics  and  invalids. 

e.  The  liver  of  the  ox  has  been  analyzed  by  Braconnot,f  who  found  its  composition  to 
ue  as  follows  : — 


*  Journ  de  Ckim.  Med.  t.  ih.  p.  450. 


t  Ann.  de  Chimie  et  de  Physique,  t.  x.  p.  181J. 


118  COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 


COMPOSITION  OF  THE  LIVER  OF  THE  OX. 

Vascular  and  cutaneous  tissues  .        *    !!8-94 

Parenchyma  (t.  e.  soluble  parts)  .        .        .  81-06 

Liver 100-00 

The  parenchyma  consisted  of  the  following  substances  : — 

Brown  oil,  containing  phosphorus        .  .                .    3-89 

White  fatty  flocculi      .... 

Nitrogenous  matter       .        .        .        .  .        .            6'07 

Albumen .        .  20-19 

Blood    ......  .    ? 

Salts ...     1-21 

Water 68-64 

Parenchyma  of  the  liver 100-00 

On  account  of  the  oily  matter  which  it  contains,  the  liver  of  quadrupeds  is  not  an  ap- 
propriate food  for  invalids,  or  for  those  whose  stomachs  are  weak.  Moreover,  the  ordin- 
ary mode  of  cooking  it,  (frying,)  renders  it  still  more  inappropriate. 

/.  The  kidneys. — From  Berzelius's  experiments  it  appears  that  the  solid  part  of  the 
kidney  is  neither  fibrine  nor  cellular  tissue,  but  approaches  nearer  to  the  substance  of 
which  the  fibrous  coat  of  the  arteries  consists,  (see  p.  101.)  The  liquid  portion  of  the 
kidney  contains  albumen  and  lactic  acid.  Berzelius  could  detect  no  urea  in  it  But  the 
urinous  odor  which  a  cooked  kidney  presents  is  a  sufficient  evidence  that  it  contains 
some  of  the  essential  constituents  of  this  secretion.  Dr.  T.  Thomson*  states  that  ur»-a 
has  been  detected  in  the  kidney. 

g.  Alimentary  Canal. — The  stomachs  of  ruminants  wherv  prepared  as  food  constitute 
tripe.  Its  principal  organic  constituents  are  albumen  and  fibrine.  "  Few  things,"  says 
Dr.  A.  T.  Thomson,f  "  are  more  readily  digested  than  tripe,  when  it  is  properly  cooked. 
After  partially  boiling,  in  the  usual  manner,  and  also  some  onions,  in  two  waters,  both 
should  be  slowly  boiled  together,  until  the  tripe  is  very  soft  and  tender.  A  sufficient 
quantity  of  salt,  and  a  pinch  or  a  few  grains  of  cayenne  pepper,  may  be  added."  Dr. 
Beaumont's  experiment,  before  quoted,  (see  p.  117,)  also  shows  the  ready  digestibility 
of  tripe. 

5.  Blood. — Blood  forms  a  greater  or  less  constituent  of  the  flesh  and  viscera  of  quadru- 
peds, notwithstanding  that  in  the  ordinary  mode  of  slaughtering  these  animals  they  are 
deprived  of  the  greater  part  of  their  circulating  fluid.J  Among  civilized  nations,  the  pig  is 
the  only  animal  whose  blood  furnishes  a  distinct  article  of  food.  Mixed  with  fat  and 
aromatics,  and  enclosed  in  the  prepared  intestines,  the  blood  of  this  animal  constitutes  the 
sausages  gold  in  the  shops  under  the  name  of  black  puddings. 

The  following  table  shows  the  mean  composition  of  the  blood  of  several  animals  em- 
ployed as  food,  according  to  the  analyses  of  MM.  Andral,  Gavarret,  and  Delafond.J 


*  Animal  Chemistry,  p.  330. 

h  The  Domestic  Management  of  the  Sick-Room,  p.  433. 

J  Some  animals  are  bled  to  death  ;  others,  &fter  being  knocked  down,  have  the  vessels  of  their  necK 
divided.  By  the  Mosaic  law  the  Jews  are  expressly  forbidden  to  eat  the  blood  of  any  beast  or  bird,  or  to 
partake  of  the  flesh  of  any  beast  or  bird,  whose  throat  has  not  been  cut  in  order  to  drain  off  ite  blood. 
They  are  not  to  eat  of  any  creature  that  dies  of  itself,  (Leviticus,  chapters  7,  1 1,  and  17.)  "  Previously  to 
boiling  any  meat,  the)  are  required  to  let  it  lie  half  an  hour  in  water  and  an  hour  in  salt,  ;md  then  to 
rinse  off  the  salt  with  clean  water.  This  is  designed  to  draw  out  any  remaining  blood."  (Allen,  Modern 
Judaism,  p.  420-21,  2d.  ed.  1830.) 

§  Anrtales  de  Chimie  et  de  Physique,  3e   aerie,  t.  v. 


MILK. 


119 


MEAN  COMPOSITION  OF  THE  BLOOD  OF  THE  OX,  THE  SHEEP,  AND  THE  PIG. 


Constituents. 

Oxen. 

Sheep. 

Pig* 

of  from  2  to 
6  months 
old, 
English 
Breed. 

Merino. 

Dishley 
Breed. 

Fibrine     

3-7 
99-7 
863 
810-3 

3-0 
101-1 

82-4 
8135 

2-6 
95-0 
92-4 
810-0 

4-6 

105-7 
80-1 
809-6 

Solid  matters  of  the  serum     .... 
\yater           

1000-0 

1000-0 

1000-0 

1000-0 

The  composition  and  alimentary  properties  of  fibrine  have  already  been  stated,  (see  pp. 
90-91.)  I  have  also  given  the  composition  of  the  blood  corpuscles  according  to  Denis, 
(see  p.  92,  foot-note.)  Their  alimentary  properties  are  similar  to  those  of  albumen  and 
other  proteinaceous  substances. 

The  solid  matters  of  the  serum  of  the  blood  consist  of  albumen,  (see  pp.  CO-93,)  which 
constitutes  more  than  1-10  of  their  weight,  of  fatty  matters,  (see  p.  85,  foot-note,)  of,  ac- 
cording to  Denis,  two  coloring  matters,  (yellow  biliary  matter  and  traces  of  a  blue  sub- 
stance,) and,  lastly,  various  salts,  (viz.  alkaline  chlorides,  alkaline  carbonate,  phosphate, 
and  sulphate,  carbonates  of  lime  and  magr.ssia,  and  phosphates  of  lime  and  magnesia.) 

The  nutritive  quality  of  blood  is  equal  to  that  of  flesh,  with  which  it  is  identical  in  com- 
position, (see  p.  114.) 

6.  Milk. — On  account  of  its  liquidity  rank  ought,  perhaps,  to  be  placed  among  Drinks  ; 
but  inasmuch  as  it  contains,  in  solution  and  suspension,  a  large  quantity  of  alimentary 
matter  ;  as  it  constitutes  the  sole  food  of  mammals  during  a  certain  period  of  their  life, 
after  birth  ;  and,  lastly,  as  it  yields  some  sMid  alimentary  substances,  (butter,  cheese,  and 
sugar  of  milk,)  it  will  be,  on  the  whole,  most  convenient  to  notice  it  here. 

Milk,  or,  to  be  more  precise  in  our  description,  Cow's  Milk,  is  an  opaque,  white 
emulsive  liquid,  with  a  bland,  sweetish  taste,  a  faint  peculiar  odor,  and  a  specific  gravity 
of  about  1-030 :  the  latter  property,  however,  is  subject  to  considerable  variation.  When 
recently  drawn  from  the  animal  it  is  slightly  alkaline,  (see  p.  93.)  Subjected  to  a  mi- 
croscopical examination,  it  is  observed  to  consist  of  myriads  of  excessively  minute 
globular  particles  floating  in  a  serous  liquid.  These  particles  are  butter.  They  instantly 
disappear,  by  solution,  on  the  addition  of  a  drop  of  caustic  alkali ;  and  they  may  be  sepa- 
rated by  nitration, — the  filtered  liquor  being  transparent.  Being  specifically  lighter  than 
the  liquor  in  which  they  are  suspended,  they  readily  separate  by  standing.  They  rise  to 
the  surface,  carrying  with  them  some  caseine,  and  retaining  some  of  the  serum,  thus 
forming  cream.  The  milk  from  which  the  cream  is  separated  is  termed  skimmed  milk. 

Milk  has  been  the  subject  of  repeated  chemical  investigation.  The  following  is  the 
composition  of  several  kinds  of  milk,  according  to  the  very  elaborate  experiments  of  MM. 
O.  Henri  and  Chevallier,*  published  in  1839. 

Milk  of  the 


Constituents. 
Caseine 
Butter 
Sugar  of  Milk 
Various  Salts 
Water 

Cow. 

4-48 
3-13 
4.77 
0-60 

87-02 

Ass. 
1-82 
0-11 
6-08 
0-34 
91-65 

Woman. 
1-52 
355 
6-50 
0-45 
87-98 

Goat. 
4-02 
3-32 
5-28 
0-53 
86-80 

Ewe. 
4-50 
4-20 
5-00 
0-68 
85-62 

Total 
Solid  substances 

lUU'OJ 

12-98 

iOo-00 
8-00 

100-00 
.       13-00* 

100-00 
13-20 

100-00 
14-38 

*  Journal  de  Fliarmacie,  t.  xxv.  p.  340. 

t  According  to  the  precf  dir.g  data  the  quantity  of  solid  substances  in  woman's  milk  is  12-02 ;  but 
13-00  is  given  in  the  memoir  quoted,  and  I  have  no  means  of  discovering  where  the  error  exists. 


120  COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 


But  the  relative  proportions  of  the  constituents  of  milk  va-y  with  the  quality  of  the 
food,  the  age  of  the  animal,  and  the  period  after  parturition.  The  following  table,  taken 
from  the  memoir  of  the  last-mentioned  chemists,  shows  the  influence  of  fo?d. 

COMPOSITION  OF  COW'S  MILK. 


Caserne 

Kind  of  Food. 
Carrots.                                      Beets. 
4-20         .                              375 

Butter     . 

3-08 

2-75 

Sugar  of  Milk 

5-30 

5-95 

Salts      . 

. 

0-75 

0-68 

Water 

• 

86-67 

86-87 

Total 

100-00 

100-00 

Solid  substances 

1333 

13-13 

MM.  Boussingault  and  Le  Bel*  have  also  made  a  series  of  experiments  to  determine 
the  effect  of  various  kinds  of  food  upon  the  quantity  and  quality  of  the  milk  given  by 
cows.  Some  of  their  results  have  been  before  noticed,  (see  ante,  p.  93.) 

I  have  already  considered  the  composition  and  alimentary  qualities  of  butter,  (pp.  81- 
87,)  and  of  caseine,  (pp.  90-91,  93-95.) 

Sugar  of  Milk,  in  its  nutritive  qualities,  is  similar  to  saccharine  substances  in  general, 
and  which  have  been  already  stated,  (see  pp.  55-59.)  In  its  chemical  properties  it  is 
allied  to  gum.  Its  alimentary  uses  are  precisely  similar  to  those  of  whey.  Dissolved  in 
skimmed  cow's  milk,  I  have  occasionally  employed  it  in  consumptive  cases,  where  un- 
skimmed milk  disagreed  with  the  stomach.  The  homceopathists  use  it  as  the  vehicle 
(excipiens  vel  conslituens)  for  the  exhibition,  in  a  pilular  (globular)  form,  of  small  doses 
of  their  remedies ;  as  they  object  to  the  use  of  common  sugar,  for  this  purpose,  on  ac- 
count of  the  lime  which  it  contains. 

The  saline  constituents  of  milk  have  been  slightly  alluded  to,  (see  p.  93.)  According 
to  Schwartzf  the  following  is  the  composition  of  the  ashes  of  cow's  milk. 

COMPOSITION  OF  THE  ASHES  OF    100  PARTS  OF  COW'S  MILK. 

Soda  (in  milk  combined  with  lactic  acid) 

Chloride  of  potassium 

Phosphate  of  soda 

Phosphate  of  lime 

Phosphate  of  magnesia 

Phosphate  of  iron 

0-3697 

But  according  to  Berzelius  the  lactic  acid  is  combined  with  potash. 
Cream  of  cow's  milk  has  a  variable  specific  gravity  :  perhaps  the  average  is  1-Jdll. 
According  to  the  analysis  of  Berzelius,  it  has  the  following  composition: — 

COMPOSITION  OF  CREAM  OF  COW'S  MILK. 

Butter 4-5 

Caseine  or  curd 3-5 

Whey         .  .        .  ....      92-0 

100-0 
The  upper  stratum  of  cream  is  richer  in  butter,  the  lowest  in  case  tie.     By  agitatipn,  as 

in  the  process  called  churning,  the  fatty  globu'.3S  unite  to  form  buttei  •  the  residue,  called 

butter-milk,  consists  of  caseine,  serum,  (whey,)  and  a  little  butter. 

Skimmed  milk,  like  cream,  has  a  va-iable  specific  gravity:  perhaps   the  average  is 

1-0348.     If  left  to  itsdf,  i4  readily  acquires  acid  properties  ;  white  coagula,  commonly 

*  Ann.  ae  Chim.  et  de  Physique,  t.  Ixxi.  p.  65. 

t  Gmelin,  Handbuch  der  theoretischen  Chemic,  vol.  2,  p.  1404. 


MILK.  121 


called  curds,  separate  from  it.  If  an  acid  or  rennet  (the  infusion  of  the  fourth  or  true 
stomach  of  the  calf)  be  added  to  skimmed  milk,  this  change  is  immediately  produced. 
The  curd  separated  by  rennet  is  the  caseine.  But  after  rennet  has  ceased  to  produce  any  | 
more  coagula,  acetic  acid  will  cause  a  further  quantity  to  be  formed.  The  curd  thus  sub- 
sequently separated  by  the  acid  is  known  by  the  various  names  of  zieger,  serai,  ricotta, 
and  bracotte.  It  is  probably  nothing  else  than  uncoagulated  caseine  united  to  acetic  acid. 
The  whey  left  after  the  separation  of  the  caseine  and  zieger,  yields,  on  evaporation,  sugar 
of  milk,  one  or  more  nitrogenous  substances,  (osmazome,)  lactic  acid,  and  salts. 

The  following  table  shows  the  composition  of  several  domestic  preparations  of  milk  : — 


CONSTITUENTS. 

I  solid  fat         .  .1.  Margarine. 
f  Butter  f  2.  Butyroleine. 

(  liquid  fat  .1    3.  Butyrine. 
f  Cream         •(  |    4.  Caproine. 

•D  **         -ii       ^  caseum.  I    5.  Caprine. 

Butter-milk       serum  or  whey. 

.    byre,™,  .      6CaSeine. 


•( 

• 

[ 


•  MgaS,eC°a-    ™,  by 'renne,,  but  by  acetic 
Skimmed    J 

milk                                    f  saccharine  matter          .        .  8.  Sugar  of  Milk. 

\  ,X7,                       azotized  matter      ...  9.  Osmazome. 

f  soluble  in  alcohol.       .  10.  Alkaline  and  earthy  lactates 

rum    '     '  and  phosphates. 

(^  salts  <  soluble   in  water,  not  11.  Alkaline  sulphate  and  phos- 

in  alcohol         .        .  phates. 

[ insoluble  in  water       .  12.  Earthy     and    ferruginous 
phosphates. 

The  morbid  changes  produced  in  the  quality  of  the  milk  by  diseased  conditions  of  the 
cows,  have  recently  attracted  considerable  attention  in  Paris,  owing  to  the  prevalence  of 
a  malady,  called  the  cocote,  among  the  cows  in  that  capital.*  Those  which  have  been 
recognised  are  want  of  homogeneousness,  imperfect  mobility  or  liquidity,  capability  of 
becoming  thick  or  viscid  on  the  addition  of  ammonia,  and  the  presentation  of,  when  ex- 
amined by  the  microscope,  certain  globues  (agglutinated,  tuberculated  or  mulberry-like, 
mucous  or  pus  globules)  not  found  in  healthy  milk.f  LabillardiereJ  states  that  the  milk 
of  a  cow,  affected  with  a  kind  of  turbercular  phthisis  (pommeliere)  contained  seven  times 
more  phosphate  of  lime  than  usual ;  and  Dupuy  also§  speaks  of  the  large  quantity  of 
calcareous  matter  in  the  milk  of  cows,  in  whose  lungs  abundant  deposits  of  the  same  sub- 
stance were  found. H 

Good  milk  is  quite  liquid  and  homogeneous ;  not  viscid ;  and,  when  examined  by  the 
microscope,  is  found  to  contain  only  spherical  transparent  globules,  soluble  in  alkalies  and 
ether.  Moreover,  good  milk  yields  a  flocculent  precipitate  with  acetic  acid,  but  is  not 
coagulated  by  heat.  The  relative  quantity  of  cream,  which  it  affords,  is  estimated  by  a 
glass  tube  divided  into  100  parts.  Such  an  instrument  is  called  a  lactometer.  The  thick- 
ness of  the  layer  of  cream  which,  in  a  few  hours,  forms  at  the  top  of  the  milk,  may  be 
easily  led  off.  I  have  repeatedly  submitted  the  milk  supplied  to  me  by  a  respectable  dealer 
in  London,  to  examination  by  the  lactometer,  but  the  results  have  been  very  unsatisfac- 

*  See  Journal  de  Pharmacie,  vol.  xxv.  p.  301-318. 

t  Recherches  micros copiques  sur  divers  laits  obtenus  de  vaches  plus  ou  moins  affectees  de  la  Maladle  qui  a 
regnd  pendant  THiver  de  1823  d  1839,  et  designee  vulgairement  sous  la  denomination  de  Cocote,  par  M 
Turpin,  in  the  Mtmoires  de  TAcad6mie  Royale  des  Sciences  de  Vlnstitut,  t.  xvii.  Paris,  1840. 

}  Diet.  Mat.  Med.  iv.  23. 

$  Quoted  by  Andral,  Treat,  on  Path.  Anatomy,  Engl.    Transl.  vol.  i.  p.  675. 

II  Appendix,  Y. 


122 


COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 


tory,  as  the  quantity  of  cream  which  I  procured  varied  from  5  to  23  per  cent  by  measure. 
I  subjoin  a  few  results  obtained  in  November,  1840 : — 


QUANTITY  OF  CREAM  IN  COW'S  MILK. 

100  Parts  by  measure  Quantity  of  Crea 

of  Milk.  by  measuie. 

1840,  November  6,— Morning  .  ...    Ill 

Afternoon  ...      5 

"         7, — Morning  ...     10 

"  Afternoon  ...     161 


100  Parts  by  measure 

of  Milk. 

1840,  November  8,— Afternoon 
"10,        .     .     .     , 

"17 

••       18,      ..     .     .     . 


Quantity  of  Cream 
by  measure. 
.      10* 

.     .       8 

.     .    23 
.    23 


The  milk  yielded  by  an  Alderney  cow,  belonging  to  a  gentleman  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Whitechapel,  yielded  17£  per  cent,  (by  measure)  of  cream. 

The  following  table  of  the  quantity  of  cream  contained  in  the  milk  supplied  by  con- 
tract to  the  London  Hospital,  has  been  kindly  furnished  me  by  Mr.  Macmeikan,  the  apoth- 
ecary to  that  establishment.  The  specific  gravity  was,  for  convenience,  taken  by  the 
urinometer. 

SPECIFIC  GRAVITY  AND  PROPORTION  OF  CREAM  ON  3IILK  SUPPLIED  TO  THE 

LONDON  HOSPITAL. 


DATE. 

SPECIFIC  GRAVITY. 

CREAM. 

TKMPERA- 

T  1  '  K  v.  . 

1842. 

Sept   12 

1-023 
1030 

9 
5 

— 

14 

1-026 

5 



15 

1-025 

5 



16 

1-030 

5 

n 

17 

1-026 

4ft 

09 

18 

1-030 

5k 

19 

1-027 

5k 

63 

20 

1-026 

5k 

61 

21 

1-026 

5 

60 

22 

1-026 

5 

62 

23 

1-027 

5k 

G2 

24 

1026 

5 

25 

1-027 

4k 



26 

1-025 

4k 

64 

27 

1-028 

4k 

M 

28 

1-028 

5 

__ 

29 

1-027 

5 

_ 

Oct.      1 

1-030 

5 



2 

1-027 

7 



3 

1-028 

6 



4 

1-027 

7 

_ 

5 

1-030 

7 



6 

1-0-27 

7 



7 

1-029 

7k 



8 

1-028 

7 

— 

26  days. 

Average)  ,   ft.77  7 
sp.  gr.    $  1  U~'2T 

Average    )       )Q 
quantity   >  '-)5J2' 
of  cream  ) 

Donne*  says  ordinary  cow's  milk  should  furnish  12  to  15  percent,  of  cream, — woman's 
milk,  of  good  quality,  3  per  cent., — and  ass's  milk  frcm  1  to  2  per  cent. 

The  influence  which  many  medicines,  taken  by  the  parent,  have  over  the  offspring,  is 
a  circumstance  known  to  every  nurse,  though  Cullen  denies  it.  We  can  modify  the 
eolor  of  the  milk  by  mixing  saffron  or  madder  with  the  food  ;  the  odor  may  be  affected  by 
various  cruciferous  and  alliaceous  plants ;  the  taste  may  be  altered  by  the  use  of  bitters, 
as  wormwood  ;  and  lastly,  the  medicinal  effect  may  be  also  influenced.  Children  may  be 


*  Conseils  aux  Mires  sur la  Mantire  d'Elever  lev  Enfans  nouveau-nds.     1842. 


MILK. 


123 


salivated  by  sucking  nurses  under  the  influence  of  mercury,  or  purged  by  the  exhibition 
of  drastics,  or  narcotized  by  the  administration  of  opiates  to  the  nurse.  These  facts  are 
so  familiar  to  every  one,  that  further  evidence  of  them  is  scarcely  requisite.  Mental 
emotions  also  affect  the  quality  of  the  milk.  Thus  the  actior  of  the  bowels  of  the  child 
is  frequently  disordered  in  consequence  ov*  some  sudden  emotion  on  the  part  of  the 
mother. 

The  quality  of  the  milk  is  also  affected  by  the  state  of  health  of  the  female  supplying 
it.  I  have  already  mentioned  the  effect  of  tubercular  disease  of  the  lungs  in  increasing 
the  quantity  of  phosphate  of  lime  in  the  milk,  (see  p.  121.)  This  subject  is  one  of  the 
greatest  moment,  not  only  in  reference  to  the  frequency  of  disease  in  cows,  and,  there- 
fore, to  the  possible  morbific  character  of  their  milk,  but  also  in  reference  to  the  milk  of 
the  human  subject.  I  think,  with  these  facts  before  us,  it  would  be  highly  improper  to 
allow  a  female,  with  any  trace  or  suspicion  of  tuberculous  disease,  to  suckle.  Not  that 
a  few  grains,  more  or  less,  of  phosphate  of  lime  in  the  milk,  can  probably  do  any  injury 
to  the  child  ;  but  the  fact  once  established,  that  the  milk  may  be  thus  altered  by  disease, 
leads  to  the  suspicion  that  some  other  substances,  not  yet  recognised  by  their  physical 
or  chemical  characters,  may  be  in  the  milk  of  diseased  nurses,  and  which  may  have  an 
injurious  influence  on  the  child ;  and  the  suspicion  does  not  confine  itself  to  those  affect- 
ed with  tuberculous  diseases :  other  hereditary  or  constitutional  affections  may  also  be 
attended  with  altered  conditions  of  the  milk.  This  suspicion  is  strengthened  by  the  com- 
mon observation  that  the  milk  of  different  nurses  does  not  equally  suit  the  same  child  ; 
nor  that  of  the  same  nurse,  different  children. 

Milk  being  furnished  by  nature  as  the  only  food  for  the  young  mammal,  during  a  cer-  > 
tain  period  of  his  existence,  contains  all  the  elements  necessary  for  the  nutrition  and 
growth  of  the  body. 

Out  of  the  caseine  of  milk  are  formed  the  albumen  and  fibrine  of  the  blood,  arid 
the  proteinaceous  and  gelatinous  tissues.  The  butter  serves  for  the  formation  of 
fat,  and  contributes,  with  the  sugar,  to  support  the  animal  heat  by  yielding  carbon  and 
hydrogen  to  be  burnt  in  the  lungs.  The  earthy  salts  are  necessary  for  the  development 
of  the  osseous  system ;  the  iron  is  required  for  the  blood  corpuscles  and  the  hair ;  while 
the  alkaline  .chloride  furnishes  the  hydrochloric  acid  of  the  gastric  juice. 

Milk  is  in  general  readily  digested  by  children,  unless  it  contain  too  large  a  quantity  of 
nutritious  matter,*  when  it  is  apt  to  induce  various  disorders  of  the  digestive  organs, 
(vomiting,  griping,  &c.)  It  frequently  disagrees  with  adults.  With  some  it  proves  heavy 
and  difficult  of  digestion,  owing  to  its  oily  constituent,  (butter.)  With  such,  ass's  milk, 
(which  contains  very  little  butter,)  or  skimmed  cow's  milk,  usually  agrees.  The  follow- 
ing table  of  the  digestibility  of  milk,  &c.,  is  taken  from  Dr.  Beaumont's  work : — 


ARTICLES  OF 
DIET. 

MEAN  TIME  OF  CHYMIFICATION. 

IN8TOM4CH 

IN  PHIALS. 

Preparation. 

H.     M. 

Preparation. 

H.    M. 

Milk 
Milk          .... 
Butter       .... 
Cream        .... 

Boiled 
Raw 
Melted 

2        0 
2      15 
3      30 

Boiled 
Raw 

Raw 

4     15 
4    45 

25    30 

*  See  Payen,  Journ.  ds  Chim.  Med.  t.  iv.  p.  1 18.    Also  Donne,  Conseils  aux  Mires  sur  la  Mantire d'Elever 
les  Enfans  nouveau-nes.     1842. 


124  COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 


Pure  milk  injected  into  the  veins  exerts  no  deleterious  effects,  except  in  the  horse.* 

Milk  is  a  very  useful  and  valuable  article  of-  food  as  well  for  the  adult  as  for  the  chiid, 
—and  for  healthy  individuals  as  for  invalids  and  convalescents.  The  principal  drawback 
to  its  employment,  in  many  cases,  is  the  difficult  digestibility  of  its  fatty  constituent, 
(butter.)  Under  the  name  of  Milk  Diet  it  is  extensively  employed,  in  conjunction  with 
farinaceous  substances  and  light  puddings,  with  great  benefit  in  many  maladies.  (See 
the  article  MHk  Dirt,  in  a  subsequent  part  of  this  work.) 

Wln-y  is  an  excellent  diluent  and  nutritive.  It  may  be  used  in  febrile  and  inflamma- 
tory complaints.  It  is  usually  prepared  by  means  of  rennet  ;f  and  when  thus  procured 
may  be  denominated  Rennet  Whey,  in  order  to  distinguish  it  from  whey  prepared  by  other 
methods.  While  Wine  Whey,  taken  warm  and  combined  with  a  sudorific  regimen,  acts 
powerfully  on  the  skin,  and  is  a  valuable  domestic  remedy  in  slight  colds  and  febrile  dis- 
orders. Cream  of  Tartar  \\'hcy  is  prepared  by  adding  a  quarter  of  an  ounce  of  cream  of 
tartar  (bitartrate  of  potash)  to  a  pint  of  milk.  It  may  be  diluted  with  water,  and  taken 
in  febrile  and  dropsical  complaints.  It  is  refrigerant  and  diuretic.  Alum  Whey  is  made 
by  boiling  a  quarter  of  an  ounce  of  powdered  alum  with  a  pint  of  milk  ;  then  straining. 
It  may  be  flavored  with  sugar  and  nutmeg.  This  is  a  pleasant  mode  of  exhibiting  alum, 
and  may  be  beneficially  resorted  to  in  disorders  requiring  the  use  of  this  astringent,  as  in 
li-ad  colic,  hemorrhages,  and  colliquative  sweating.  The  dose  is  a  v.  -'nl.  Tama- 

rind Whey  is  prepared   by   boiling  an  ounce  of  tamarind  pulp  with  a  pint  of  milk,  and 
then  straining.     It  is  refrigerant,  slightly  laxative,  and  nutritive,  and  may  be  exhibited  in 
febrile  disorders.     Mitft-ird  Wh'-y  is  prepared  by  boiling  together  half  an  ounce  of  bruised 
mustard  seeds  and  one  pint  of  milk,  until  the  milk   is  curdled  :  then  strain,  to  separate 
the  whey.     "This  whey  has  been  found  to  be  a  useful  drink  in  dropsy  :  it  stimula: 
kidneys ;  and,  consequently  augments  the  urinary  secretion.     It  may  be  taken  in 
cupful  at  a  time."$ 

Milk  and  lime-water  forms  a  very  useful  remedy  in  some  irritable  conditions  of  stomach 
arising  from  uterine  and  other  maladies.     It  oftentimes  proves  a  most  effectual  r 
for  obstinate  vomiting.     I  have  likewise  found    it  highly  serviceable  in  the  climacteric 
disease,   or,   what  is  technically  known   as   "  a  breaking  up   of  the  constitution."      It 
nourishes,  while  it  checks  sickness  and  relaxation  of  bowels.     One  part  of  linv  - 
may  be  taken  with  one,  two,  or  three  parts  of  milk,  according  to  circt:  The 

milk  completely  covers  the  offensive  taste  of  the  lime-water. 

Whey  possesses  slightly  nutritive  qualities :  these  it  derives  from  th»  milk 

which  it  contains.     It  is  devoid  of  all  stimulating  properties  with  reference  either  to  tl 
cular  or  nervous  systems.     It,  therefore,  forms  a  very  agreeable  and  excellent  diluent 
and  slight  nutrient  in  febrile  and  inflammatory  complaints;    and   is    well  a 
catarrhal  and  pulmonary  affections,  especially  incipient  phthisis,  hemoptysis,  atrophy," 
scrofula,  and  chixniic  disorders  of  the  liver,  and  other  digestive  organs.     It  very  gently 

A 

*  Donne,  Complex  Rendms,  1841. 

t  The  term  lit-nntt,  or  Runnel,  is  applied  to  the  stomach  of  a  sucking  animal  (as  of  the  calf,  pro 
by  means  of  salt.  These  terms  are  also  applied  to  the  liquid  obtained  by  macerating  this  stomach  in 
Vrater.  It  is  the  izastrie  juice  which  is  the  effective  agent  in  coagulating  or  curdling  milk,  (see  pp.  35,  and 
!M  According  to  Deschamps,  (Joiirn.  de  Pharm.  vol.  xxvi.  p.  412,)  liquid  rennet  contains  hydnx-hloric 
acid,  (in  great  quantity.)  buti/ric,  c  iproic,  ca;  /•/<-,  and  lactic  acids,  sal  ammoniac,  chloride  of  soil  him.  jmie- 
pendt  fitly  of  that  which  has  been  added.)  maynefia,  (not  as  ammoniaoal  phosphate,)  soda,  (probably 
with  the  magnesia,  as  lactate,)  traces  of  a.  sulphate,  phosphate  of  lime ,  and  a  peculiar  matter  which  he 
call*  chymofin"  'from  w^s,  chyme,  xfyuffij,  chymification.) 

I  Dr.  A.  T.  Thompson,  The  Domestic  Management  of  the  Sick-Room,  p.  420. 


MILK.  125 


promotes  the  action  of  the  secreting  organs,  and  in  this  way  may  prove  useful  in  con- 
gestion of  the  liver  and  of  other  abdominal*  viscera.  In  various  parts  of  Switzerland  and 
Germany  there  are  special  establishments  for  the  cure  of  chronic  disorders  by  the  use  of 
pure  or  aromatized  whey,  (JMolkencuren ;  Cures  de  Petit  Lait.~)  The  whey  is  obtained 
from  the  milk  of  the  cow,  the  goat,  or  the  ass  :  and  is  used  as  a  drink,  as  a  lavement,  or 
as  a  bath.  Its  use  is  often  associated  with  that  of  mineral  waters ;  as  at  Salzbrunn, 
Reinerz,  Kreuth,  Gaiss,  Weissbad,  and  many  other  continental  watering  placet-. 

Butter-milk,  when  made  from  whole  milk,  differs  from  this  in  the  absence  of  butter. 
As  it  contains  the  caseine,  the  sugar,  and  the  salts  of  milk,  it  must  possess  nutritive 
qualities.  It  is  extensively  used  as  an  article  of  food  by  the  lower  classes  in  Ireland.  It 
forms  a  very  agreeable  cooling  beverage  in  febrile  and  inflammatory  cases.  As  "  it  can- 
not be  procured  at  all  times  in  large  towns,  and  not  always  in  the  country,  the 
method  of  making  it  in  small  quantities,  daily,  should  be  understood.  It  is  readily  pre- 
pared by  putting  a  quart  of  new  milk  into  a  bottle  which  will  hold  a  gallon,  corking  the 
bottle,  and  covering  it  with  a  towel  in  such  a  manner,  that  by  drawing  alternately  each 
end  of  the  towel,  the  bottle  can  be  rolled  upon  a  table.  This  movement  should  be  con- 
tinued until  such  time  as  all  the  butter  is  separated,  which  is  known  by  its  appearing  in 
clots  or  masses  swimming  in  the  milk.  During  the  rolling,  it  is  necessary  to  open  the 
bottle  occasionally  to  admit  fresh  air  into  it;  as  that  is  essential  for  the  formation  of  butter. 
When  the  process  is  finished,  all  the  butter  should  be  carefully  separated  from  the  but- 
ter-milk."* This  may  be  drank  ad  libitum. 

The  preparations  of  milk  known  as  Corstorphin  Cream,  Devonshire  Cream,  or  Clotted 
Cream,  consist  of  cream  and  the  coagulated  curd.  They  are  nutritive  and  delicious 
substances,  but  apt  to  disagree  with  dyspeptics  on  account  of  the  butter  which' Ihey  con- 
tain. 

Having  noticed  the  leading  alimentary  properties  of  milk,  and  its  most  frequently  used 
p  eparations,  it  may  be  proper  now  to  say  a  few  words  on  the  distinctive  properties  of 
the  different  milks  in  most  frequent  use. 

It  will  be  seen  by  reference  to  p.  119,  Ewes'  milk  contains  the  largest  amount  of  nutri- 
tive matter,  (caseine  and  butter;)  but  on  this  account  is  less  easy  of  digestion,  and,  there- 
fore, unfitted  for  dyspeptics.  Next  to  this  is  Goals'  milk,  concerning  which  the  same 
remarks  may  be  made.  It  is  said  to  be  useful  in  checking  obstinate  diarrhoea.  Ass's  milk 
is  the  least  nutritive,  but  the  most  easy  of  digestion.  With  the  exception  of  woman's 
milk,  it  is  the  richest  in  sugar  of  milk.  In  the  convalescence  from  acute  maladies,  in 
consumptive  cases,  and  chronic  diseases  of  the  digestive  organs,  it  is  a  most  valuable 
'aliment.  Its  medicinal  value  seems  to  depend  on  the  small  quantity  of  butter  and  large 
quantity  of  sugar  of  milk  which  it  contains.  An  artificial  ass's  milk  may  be  prepared 
by  dissolving  a  couple  of  ounces  of  sugar  of  milk  in  a  pint  of  skimmed  cow's  milk. 
Coio's  milk  is  intermediate,  in  nutritive  and  digestible  properties,  between  goat's  milk 
and  ass's  milk.  Donnef  says  that  it  is  the  only  milk  which  is  either  very  feebly  alkaline 
often  neutral,  and  sometimes  slightly  acid.  The  milk  of  the  ass  and  the  woman  are 
always  very  obviously  alkaline.  He  thinks  that  the  cause  of  this  peculiarity  of  cow's 
milk  is  referable  to  the  fact  that  this  milk  is,  to  a  certain  extent,  an  artificial  production  : 
that  is,  it  is  furnished  by  the  animal  long  after  the  time  of  suckling  its  offspring,  and  it  is 
well  known  that  the  milk  varies  in  its  qualities  at  different  periods  after  the  parturition 
of  the  animal. 

*  Dr.  A.  T.  Thomson,  The  Domestic  Management  of  the  Swk-Room. 
t  Comptes  Rendus,  1841,  p.  1064  ;  also  Conseils  aux  Meres,  1842. 


126  COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 

CLASS  II.  AVES.-BIRDS. 

This  class  of  animals,  like  the  preceding  one,  furnishes  a  very  safe  aliment  to  man, 
for  none  of  the  species  are  poisonous  ;  and,  accordingly,  a  very  large  number  are  em- 
ployed as  food.  My  remarks,  however,  will  be  directed  to  those  in  most  frequent  use  in 
England  ;— principally  to  the  Common  Fowl,  the  Pheasant,  the  Partridge,  the  Pigeon, 
the  Duck,  and  the  Goose. 

The  flesh,  viscera,  and  eggs  of  birds,  are  used  as  food. 

1.  Flesh. — The  composition  of  the  muscular  flesh  of  birds,  according  to  the  analyses  of 
Mr.  Brande  and  Schlossberger,  has  been  already  stated,  (see  p.  111.)  "The  flesh  of 
birds,"  says  the  late  Dr.  Duncan,  jun.,*  "  differs  very  much  in  its  sensible  properties,  not 
only  in  different  kinds,  but  even  in  the  different  muscles  of  the  same  bird.  The  pectoral 
muscles  which  move  the  wings  are  drier  and  more  tender  than  those  which  move  the 
legs.  The  tendons  of  the  legs  are  also  very  strong,  and  at  a  certain  age  become  bony  ; 
but  the  flesh  of  the  legs,  when  sufficiently  tender,  either  from  the  bird  being  young,  or 
from  long  keeping,  or  sufficient  cookery,  is  more  juicy  and  savory  than  that  Of  the  wiiiirs. 
Of  a  few  birds,  especially  the  woodcock  and  snipe,  the  legs  are  at  all  times  preferred  to 
the  breast.  In  the  black-cock,  the  outer  layer  of  the  pectoral  muscle  is  of  a  dark-brown 
color,  while  the  inner  is  white.  A  similar  difference  is  observed  in  many  other  birds,  and 
perhaps  it  is  general  in  a  slight  degree.  The  muscular  organs  of  birds  differ  from  those  of 
quadrupeds  in  their  flesh  never  being  marbled,  or  having  fat  mixed  with  the  muscular  fibres." 

The  muscles  of  those  parts  of  the  body  most  frequently  exercised  become  firmer,  harder, 
and  tougher  than  tiiose  which  are  more  rarely  used.  "  That  exercise  produces  strength 
and  firmness  of  fibre,"  says  Dr.  Kitchener,  f  "is  excellently  well  exemplified  in  the  wood- 
cock and  partridge.  Th-j  former  flies  most — the  latter  walks  ; — the  wing  of  the  woodcock 
is  always  very,  tough, — of  the  partridge  very  tender:  hence  tfre  old  doggerel  distich, — 

1  If  the  Partridge  had  hut  the  Woodcock's  thigh, 
He'd  be  the  best  bird  that  e'er  doth  fly.' 

The  breast  of  all  birds  is  the  most  juicy  and  nutritious  part." 

Castration  improves  the  flesh  of  birds  for  the  table,  rendering*it  more  tender  and  sa- 
vory. Of  this  we  have  an  illustration  in  the  capon,  (the  castrated  cock.)  Spaying  exer- 
cises a  similar  influence  over  the  female  bird  ;  as  in  the  poulard,  (the  spayed  hen.) 

The  flesh  of  the  older  and  larger  birds  is  in  general  coarser  than  that  of  the  younger 
and  smaller  animals. 

Though  great  diversity  exists  in  the  flesh  of  different  orders  of  birds,  yet  no  accurate 
distribution  of  those  animals,  founded  on  the  kind  of  fle"sh,  can  be  made,  because  though 
the  extremes  are  well  marked,  they  run  insensibly  into  each  other.  The  usual  division  is 
into  four  classes,  as  follows  : 

a.  The  W hite-Jleshed,  as  the  common  fowl  and  the  ;urkey.  The  meat  of  these  animals 
is  white,  contains  but  little  osmazome,  when  good  is  generally  liked,  and  when  young  is 
exceedingly  tender.  Chicken  flesh  is,  in  general,  easily  digested.  Dr.  Beaumont*  states 
that  it  is  more  difficult  of  digestion  than  beef.  He  says,  that  the  texture  of  the  chicken 
being  closer  than  that  of  beef,  the  gastric  juice  does  not  insinuate  itself  into  the  insterstices 
of  the  muscular  fibre  so  readily  as  into  bee£  but  operates  entirely  upon  th'?  outer  surface, 
which  it  dissolves,  as  a  piece  of  gum  arabic  is  dissolved  in  the  mouth,  until  the  last 
particle  is  dissolved. 


*  Supplement  to  th?  Encyclopedia  Brilannica^  art.  Food. 

t  Cook's  Oracle.  J  Op.  supra  at.  p   122 . 


FLESH  OF  BIRDS. 


127 


Chicken  flesh  is  nutritious,  and  is,  perhaps,  the  least  stimulating  of  animal  foods.  It  is 
often  retained  on  the  stomach  of  invarf&s  when  other  meats  would  be  immediately  re- 
jected. Chicken  broth  is  well  adapted  for  irritable  stomachs.. 

b.  The  Dark-Fleshed  Game,  as  the  grouse,  and  the  black-cock.     The  flesh  of  the  wild 
gallinaceous  birds  is  darker-colored,  firmer,  richer  in  osmazome,  somewhat  less  digestible, 
and  more  stimulating,  than  that  of  the  chicken.     When  sufficiently  kept  it  acquires  a  pe- 
culiar odor,  called  fumet,  and  an  aromatic  bitter  taste,  most  sensible  in  the  back.     In  this 
condition  it  is  said  to  be  ripe  or  high,  and  is  much  esteemed  as  a  luxury. 

c.  The  Aquatic,  (including  swimmers  and  waders,)  as  the  goose  and  the  duck.     The 
flesh  of  water  fowl  is  mostly  firm,  penetrated  with  fat.  (which  often  acquires  a  rancid  and 
fishy  taste,)  and  is  more  difficult  of  digestion.     It  forms,  therefore,  a  less  appropriate  ali- 
ment for  invalids. 

d.  The  Rapacious,  as  the  hawk  and  the  owl.     None  of  these  are  eaten,  partly,  perhaps, 
from  prejudice,  and  partly  because  those  which  touch  carrion  acquire  a  cadaverous 
smell. 

The  following  table  contains  Dr.  Beaumont's  results  respecting  the  digestibility  of  the 
flesh  of  birds. 

DIGESTIBILITY  OF  THE  FLESH  OF  BIRDS. 


ARTICLES  OF  DIET. 

MEAN  TIME  OF  CHYMIFICATION. 

IN   STOMACH. 

IN    PHIALS. 

Preparation. 

H.  M. 

Preparation. 

H.  M. 

Turkey,  wild    . 
"        domestic 

Goose,  wild 
Chicken,  full  grown 
Fowls,  domestic 
"            "      .     /. 
Ducks,  domestic 

Roasted 
Boiled 
Roasted 
Roasted 
Fricasseed 
Boiled 
Roasted 
Roasted 
Roasted 

2     18 
2    25 
2     30 
2     30 
2    45 
4    0 
4    0 
4    0 
4    30 

Masticated 

I 

6    30 

2.  Viscera. — Some  of  the  viscera  of  birds  are  employed  as  aliment.     They  constitute 
part  of  what  is  called,  in  the  case  of  the  goose  and  duck,  giblets. 

a.  The  brains  of  birds  are  eaten  at  the  table.     In  their  chemical  properties  they  resem- 
ble calves'  brains.     John  says  the  cerebrum  contains  a  larger  quantity  of  fat  (part  of 
which  is  crystallizable)  than  tha  brain  of  the  calf;  the  cerebellum  of  birds  contains  less 
water  and  no  crystallizable  fat. 

b.  Gizzard. — This  is  the  muscular  or  pyloric  portion  of  the  stomach.     It  consists  of  a 
very  dense  and  firm  muscular  or  fleshy  texture,  lined  by  a  thick,  hard,  fibrous,  or  ten- 
dinous membrane.     On  account  of  its  density  and  hardness  of  texture,  it  is  very  slowly 
digested  ;  and  hence  is  not  adapted   for  persons  with  weak  stomachs.     Dr.  Beaumont 
found  that  the  gizzard  of  a  chicken,  introduced  into  the  stomach  of  the  Canadian,  was 
not  completely  dissolved  at  the  end  of  five  hours, — the  residuum,  consisting  principally 
of  tendinous  fascia,  weighed  seven  and  a  half  grains. 

c.  Intestine. — In  the  woodcock,  the  intestine  (called  the  trail)  is,  by  epicures,  considered 
a  bonne  bouche. 

d.  Liver. — The  liver  of  most  birds  is  a  favorite  morsel.     Its  peculiar  flavor  it  owes  to 
the  bile  which  it  contains.     Its  oily  constituent  would  seem  to  render  it  difficult  of  diges- 


128  COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 


tion ;  but  Dr.  Beaumont  found  that  it  was  almost  as  completely  dissolved  in  the  same 
time  as  the  breast  of  a  fricasseed  chicken. 

I  have  already  (p.  11)  referred  to  the  morbidly  enlarged  liver  of  the  goose,*  employed 
in  the  preparation  of  the  celebrated  Pates  de  Foies  gras  de  Strasbourg.  The  principal 
agents  in  inducing  it  are  external  heat,  obscurity,  inactivity,  and  cramming  the  animals 
with  food.f  At  Alsace,  a  trough  in  front  of  the  animal  is  always  kept  "full  of  water,  in 
which  some  pieces  of  wood  charcoalj  are  left  to  steep,"  (Sonnini.)  In  this  way  the  liver 
becomes  enormously  enlarged,  and  oftentimes  weighs  one  or  two  pounds ;  while  the  ani- 
mal is  excellent  for  the  table,  and  furnishes,  during  roasting,  from  three  to  five  pounds 
of  fat.  The  change  thus  induced  in  the  liver  is  that  known  to  pathologists  by  the  name 
of  fully  degeneration,!}  in  which  the  liver  is  very  rich  in  a  phosphoric  oil.  It  is  obvious, 
therefore,  that  these  diseased  livers  must  be  difficult  of  digestion,  and  unfit  for  persons 
with  delicate  stomachs.  Dr.  Prout||  has  endeavored  to  deter  indolent  and  dyspeptic  in- 
dividuals from  partaking  of  them,  by  suggesting  that  they  "cannot  be  supposed,  in  all 
instances,  to  assimilate  them  ;  and  consequently  run  considerable  risk  in  inoculating  and 
converting  their  own  livers,  or  other  organs,  into  a  similar  mass  of  disease." 

3.  Fat. — The  composition  of  the  fat  of  the  goose,  the  duck,  and  the  turkey,  has  been 
already  stated,   (see  p.  88.)     Goose  grease,  when  spoiled  (by  keeping  1)  has  produced 
symptoms  of  poisoning. IT 

4.  Eggs. — Both  the  white  or  glaire,  and  the  yolk  of  eggs,  are  employed  as  foo'd. 

a.  White  or  Glaire  of  Eggs. — This  is  also  termed  the  Albumen  of  Eggs,  or  Ovalbumen. 
Its  composition,  according  to  Dr.  Bostock,  is  as  follows  : — 

COMPOSITION  OF  WHITE  OF  EGG. 

Water 80-0 

Albumen 15-5 

,        Uncoagulable  matter  [mucus] 4-5 

100-0 

Couerbe  has  extracted  from  the  white  of  egg  a  peculiar  non-nitfogenous  principle, 
which  he  first  called  albuminin,  but  afterwards,  oonin.  * 

*  These  livers  were  highly  esteemed  by  the  Romans,  who  effected  their  enlargement  by  cramming 
the  animals  as  in  modern  times.  Pliny  (Hist.  Nat.  lib.  x.  cap.  27,  ed.  Valp.)  tells  us,  that  the  honor  of  the 
discovery  \v;is  contested  for  by  Sripio  Metellus  and  M.  Seius. 

t  The  ordinary  method  of  producing  the  disease  at  Strasburgh,  I  have  before  noticed,  (p.  11.)  For 
further  details,  the  reader  is  referred  to  Sonnini,  (Nouv.  Diet.  d'Hist.  Nat.  art.  Oie,)  and  to  the  article 
Food,  in  the  Supplement  to  the  Encyclopedia  Britannica. 

t  Liebig  (Chemistry  in  its  Application  to  Agriculture  and  Physiology,  p.  133,  2d  ed.  1842)  observes,  that 
"  it  is  well  known  that  charcoal  powder  produces  such  an  excessive  growth  of  the  liver  of  a  goose  as 
at  length  causes  die  death  of  the  animal."  But  there  is  no  valid  reason  for  .supposing  that  charcoal  has 
any  thing  to  do  with  the  effect  in  question :  indeed  it  does  not  appear  that  this  substance  is  used  at 
Strasburgh;  for  Tiedemann,  (Untersuchumr<n  ii.  dan  >V<i}triij>z$-nHlurfniss,  den  Nahrungs-Trieb  und  die 
Niihrunirs-.MHtfl  di*  Mmm-hcn,  p.  127,  1836,)  after  describing  the  mode  adopted  in  that  city,  adds,  "  In 
other  places  charcoal  powder  is  mixed  with  the  drink." 

$  Cruveilhier,  Diet,  de  Med.  et  de  Chir.,  prat,  t.  viii.  p.  326.— An  analysis  of  a  fatty  liver  has  been  pub- 
lished by  Vauquelin  (quoted  by  Mr.  W.  J.  E.  Wilson,  in  the  Cyclopadia  of  Anatomy,  art  Liver,)  "  from 
which  the  quantity  of  oily  matter  present  may  be  fairly  estimated  thus  :— in  100  parts  he  found 

Oil 45 

Parenchyma          .        .         .         .19 
Water 36 

100." 

U  On  the  Nature  and  Treatment  of  Stomach  and  Urinary  Diseases,  p.  244.     1840. 
IT  Christison,  Treatise  on  Poisons,  p.  593,  3d  ed. 


EGGS. 


129 


The  composition  and  dietetical  uses  of  the  white  of  egg  have  been  previously  stated, 
(see  pp.  89-93.) 

b.  The  Yolk  of  Egg  is  a  kind  of  yellow  emulsion,  consisting  of  oil  suspended  in  water 
by  means  of  albumen,  and  enclosed  in  a  sac  called  the  yolk  bag.  Its  composition,  ac- 
cording to  Dr.  Prout,  is  as  follows  : — 

COMPOSITION  OF  YOLK  OF  EGG. 

Water  .        .  .  ....    53-78 

Albumen 17-47 

Yellow  oil    .        .  .    23-75 


100-00 


Liebig 


According  to  Planche,  the  oil  of  yolk  of  eggs  consists  of  stearine  10,  oleine  90. 
states  that  cholesterine  arid  iron  may  be  detected  in  the  yellow  oil  of  the  yolk. 

The  albumen  of  the  yolk  is  identical  in  its  nature  with  that  of  the  white.  Dr.  Prout 
ascertained  by  combustion  the  relative  proportions  of  the  fixed  constituents  of  the  vhite 
and  yolk  of  three  eggs.  Assuming  the  weight  of  each  egg  to  be  1000  grs.  the  proportions 
of  the  mineral  substances  were  as  follows : — 

FIXED  CONSTITUENTS  OF  EGGS. 


WHITE    OF    EGG. 

YOLK    OF    EGG. 

No.  1. 

No.  2. 

No.  3. 

No.  I. 

No.  2. 

No.  3. 

Sulphuric  acid 
Phosphoric  acid    
Chlorine        

0-29 
0-45 
0-94 

0-15 
0-4fi 
093 

0-18 
0-43 
0-87 

0-21 
3-56 
0-39 

0-06 
3-50 
0-28 

0-19 
4-00 
0-44 

Potash,  soda,  and  their  carbonates 

2-92            2-93 

2-72 

0-50 

0-27 

0-51 

Lime,  magnesia,  and  their  carbonates 

0-30            0-25 

0-32 

0-63 

0-61 

0-67 

4-90            4-72 

4-57 

5-31 

4-72      1      5-81 

Dr.  Prout's  observations  on  the  supposed  production  of  lime  during  the  incubation  of 
the  egg  have  been  before  noticed,  (see  p.  3,  foot-note.) 

Fresh  or  newly  laid  eggs,  when  lightly  cooked,  as  when  poached  or  very  slightly  boiled, 
are  nutritive,  and  moderately  easy  of  digestion.  Dr.  Pearson*  has  justly  observed  that, 
in  general,  the  lightest  as  well  as  the  simplest  mode  of  preparing  eggs  for  the  ta£le  is  to 
boil  them  only  as  long  as  is  necessary  to  coagulate  slightly  the  greater  part  of  the  white, 
without  depriving  the  yolk  of  its  fluidity.  Raw  eggs  are  said  to  be  gently  laxative,  and 
were  formerly  in  repute  in  cases  of  jaundice  and  obstructed  liver.  When  boiled  hard, 
and  especially  when  fried  in  butter,  oil,  or  fat,  they  are  less  readily  soluble  in  the  gastric 
juice,  and  are  commonly  very  difficult  of  digestion.  Cooked  in  this  way  they  prove  in- 
jurious to  persons  whose  stomachs  are  delicate,  giving  rise  to  various  disorders  of  the 
digestive  organs.  These  observations  also  apply  to  omelettes,  pancakes,  fritters,  and 
other  dishes  made  with  eggs  and  cooked  by  frying.  Yet  there  are  "  instances  of  laboring 
people,  and  persons  who  use  violent  exercise,  with  whom  eggs,  hardened  by  boiling  or 
frying,  agree  better  than  in  the  soft  or  liquid  state,"  (Pearson.)  These,  however,  are 
exceptions  to  the  general  rule. 

The  following  are  the  mean  times  of  the  digestion  of  eggs,  as  observed  by  Dr.  Beau- 
mont : — 


*  A  Practical  Synopsis  of  the  Materia  Ahmentaria      1808. 


130 


COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 


DIGESTIBILITY  OF  EGGS. 


ARTICLES  OF  DIET. 

MEAN  TIME  OF  CHYMIFICATION. 

IN   STOMACH. 

IN    PHIALS. 

Preparation. 

H.  M 

Preparation. 

//.  M. 

~~4      0~~ 
4     15 

6    30 

8      0 

Eggs,  whipped 
fresh 

<t        U 

((                 1C 

Raw 
Raw 
Routed 

Soft  boiled 
Hard  boiled 
Fried 

1     30 
2      0 
2     15 
3      0 
3    30 
3    30 

Whipped 
Raw- 
Soft  boiled 
Hard  boiled 

The  raw  yolk  of  egg  is  often  taken  whipped  up  in  tea,  as  an  agreeable  and  easily  di- 
gestible aliment.  Mixed  with  sugar,  brandy,  and  a  little  cinnamon,  it  forms  an  exceed- 
ingly valuable  restorative  and  stimulant,  (see  Brandy  Mixture,  p.  78.)  Wine  is  sometimes 
substituted  for  brandy.  Flip  is  prepared  with  hot  ale,  eggs,  nutmeg  or  ginger,  and  some 
ardent  spirit,  (rum  or  brandy.) 

CLASS  III.  REPTILIA.-REPTILES. 

The  number  of  reptiles  employed  by  man  as  food  is  small ;  indeed,  the  Green  or  Edible 
Turtle  is  the  only  one  used  in  this  country.  The  flesh  of  some  of  them,  however,  forms 
a  delicious  and  wholesome  aliment.  When  cooked,  it  resembles  somewhat  that  of 
chicken  or  veal,  is  pale,  aqueous,  soft,  rich  in  gelatine,  poor  in  fibrine,  and  contains  little 
or  no  osmazome.  It  is  easily  digestible  and  nutritive,  and,  by  decoction,  yields  highly 
restorative  broths,  which  have  been  much  valued  in  consumptive  and  other  maladies. 
The  eggs  of  several  are  eaten  as  agreeable  and  nutritive  articles  of  food. 

The  Green  or  Edible  Turtle,  above  referred  to,  is  greatly  prized  by  the  epicure.  In  the 
markets  of  Jamaica  it  is  bought  and  sold  like  beef.*  To  the  tropical  navigator  it  is 
highly  important  as  forming  a  valuable  article  of  food.  The  female  with  egg  is  most 
esteemed.  In  this  country  the  principal  use  of  the  turtle  is  for  the  preparation  of  soup. 
An  imitation  (called  mock-turtle)  is  prepared  with  the  integuments  (scalp)  of  the  calf's 
head.  The  large  shield  of  the  turtle's  back  (dorsal  shield}  is  called  by  naturalists  the 
Carapace,  by  cooks  the  Callipash,  (Callapash  or  Calipash;}  while  the  shield  of  the  belly, 
(ventra^  or  sternal  shield}  is  denominated  by  naturalists  the  Plastron,  by  cooks  the  Cto////*r, 
(Calipee  or  Callepee.}  When  these  two  shields  have  been  removed  from  the  animal, 
preparatory  to  dressing,  they  are  scalded,  to  enable  the  cook  to  separate  the  scalesf  or 
shell.  They  are  then  boiled  until  the  bones  can  be  separated,  the  liquor  being  kept  as  a 
kind  of  stock.  The  softer  parts  of  the  shields  (thus  deprived  of  their  bones)  as  well  as 
portions  of  the  fins,  are,  when  cold,  cut  into  square  or  oblong  pieces,  which  constitute  the 
favorite  glutinous  or  gelatinous  morsels  in  turtle  soup ;  and  which  by  turtle-eaters  are 
often  erroneously  supposed  to  be  green  fat  They  considerably  resemble  the  pieces  of  the 
scalp  of  the  calf  contained  in  mock-turtle.  The  pieces  from  the  callipash  are  dark  colored 
externally,  and  are  sometimes  called  black  or  green  meat:  while  those  from  the  callipee 
are  white  externally.  "  The  callepee,  or  under  part  of  the  breast  or  belly,  baked,"  says 
Sir  Hans  Sloa;ie,J  "  is  reckoned  the  best  piece."  The  Jiesh  of  the  turtle  is  sometimes 


*  Dr.  P.  Browne's  History  of  Jamaica,  p.  465. 

t  The  scales  of  the  dorsal  shield  are  used  for  veneering  ladies'  work  boxes,  and  for  other  purposes. 

t  Jamaica,  vol.  i. 


FISH.  131 

dressed  at  taverns,  in  London,  as  a  steak ;  but  it  is  more  commonly  used  in  the  prepara- 
tion of  soup.  By  boiling  it  becomes  white,  like  veal  or  chicken.  •  Besides  contributing  to 
flavor  tae  stock,  it  is  cut  in  small  pieces  and  put  into  the  soup.  The  viscera  of  the  turtle 
are  not  used,  in  London,  as  food.  But  Sir  Hans  Sloane  says  that  "  the  livers  are  counted 
delicacies.  Those  who  feed  much  on  them,"  he  adds,  "sweat  out  a  yellow  serum,  es- 
pecially under  the  armpits."  The  fatty  tissue  {green  fat)  of  the  turtle  is  of  a  greenish 
yellow  color,  and  on  this  account  the  animal  has  been  termed  the  green  turtle.  The  lard 
or  fat,  when  melted  out  of  the  tissue  in  which  it  is  naturally  contained,  is  of  a  warm  yel- 
low color,  and  resembles,  both  in  appearance  and  taste,  marrow.  It  communicates  a  yel- 
low tinge  to  the  sweat  of  those  who  feed  on  it ;  "whence,"  says  Sir  Hans  Sloane,  "their 
shirts  are  yellow,  their  skin  and  face  of  the  same  color,  and  their  shirts  under  their  arm- 
pits stained  prodigiously.  This,  I  believe,"  he  adds,  "  may  be  one  of  the  reasons  of  the 
complexion  of  our  European  inhabitants,  which  is  changed,  in  some  time,  from  white  to 
that  of  a  yellowish  color,  and  which  proceeds  from  this,  as  well  as  the  jaundies,  which  is 
common,  sea  air,  &c.  The  fat  is  used  in  the  preparation  of  the  soup ;  but  many  of  the 
turtles  used  in  soup,  in  London,  contain  very  little  fat.  The  green  fat  is  said  to  commu- 
nicate a  green  color  to  the  urine.  Turtle  is  highly  nutritious,  and,  probably,  when  plainly 
cooked,  is  easy  of  digestion ;  but  when  taken  in  the  form  of  the  highly  esteemed  "turtle 
soup,"  is  very  apt  to  disagree  with  dyspeptics.  "  Turtle,"  says  Dr.  P.  Browne,*  "  is  deli- 
cate, tender  food,  while  young ;  but,  as  it  grows  old,  it  grows  more  tough  and  gristly, 
and  is  not  so  agreeable  to  the  stomach  in  those  warm  countries,  [Jamaica ;]  the  juices, 
however,  are  generally  reckoned  great  restoratives."! 

CLASS  IV.  PISCES.-FISHES 

This  class  of  animals  yields  an  almost  endless  variety  of  food  for  man.  It  furnishes  a 
much  greater  number  of  edible  genera  and  species  than  any  other  class.  From  it,  some 
nations  derive  their  chief  sustenance.  The  inhabitants  of  the  most  northern  parts  of  Eu- 
rope, Asia,  and  America,  where  but  few  alimentary  plants  are  found,  are  compelled  to 
live  almost  exclusively  on  fish. 

In  ancient  times,  fish  formed  the  chief  or  sole  nutriment  of  certain  people,  who  were 
in  consequence  called  Ichthyophagi,  (from  7x5i?,  a  fish,  and  <pdyu>,  I  eat.}  Herodotus;};  says 
that  there  were  three  tribes  of  Babylonians  whose  food  was  fish.  They  prepared  it  thus  : 
having  dried  it  in  the  sun,  they  beat  it  very  small  in  a  mortar,  and  afterwards  sifted  it 
through  a  piece  of  fine  cloth  ;  they  then  formed  it  into  cakes,  or  baked  it  as  bread.  The 
same  mode  of  preparing  fish  is  practised  at  this  day,  among  the  Esquimaux,  and  north- 
ern Indians  of  the  American  continent.  In  another  place,  Herodotus^  states  that  with  a 
considerable  part  of  the  Egyptians,  fish  constituted  the  principal  article  of  food  ;  they  dried 
it  in  the  sun,  and  ate  it  without  any  other  preparation. 

Some  of  the  smaller  and  more  delicate  fishes  are  eaten  whole,  as  the  White  Bait.|| 

*  The  Civil  and  Natural  History  of  Jamaica. 

t  Appendix,  1.  $  Clio,  cc.  $  Euterpe,  xcii. 

II  White  Bait,  formerly  supposed  to  be  the  fry  of  some  other  fish,  as  the  Shad,  but  now  universally  ad- 
mitted to  be  a  distinct  species,  (Clapea  albaj  is  found  in  immense  shoals,  during -the  summer  season,  in 
the  Thames,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Blackwall  and  Greenwich,  to  which  places  the  London  admirers  of 
this  delicacy  repair  to  enjoy  their  favorite  dish ;  the  fish-dinners  of  these  places  being  proverbially  ex- 
cellent Having  had  an  opportunity  of  seeing  the  mode  of  cooking  this  fish,  as  practised  at  Lovegrove's 
at  Blackwall,  the  following  notice  of  the  process  may  not,  perhaps,  be  uninteresting  : — 

I  was  informed  that  the  fish  should  be  cookev.  within  an  hour  after  being  caught,  or  they  are  apt  to 
cling  together.  Those  which  I  saw  cooked  were  contained  in  water  in  a  pan,  from  which  they  were  from 
time  to  time  renr  )ved,  as  required,  by  a  skimmer.  They  were  then  thrown  on  a  stratum  of  flour  contained 


132  COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 


Some  are  eaten  whole,  with  the  exception  of  the  head.  The  skin,  the  flesh,  and  the 
viscera  only,  of  others,  ere  eaten. 

lx  Integument. — The  corium  or  true  skin  of  fishes,  as  of  many  higher  animals,  is  a 
gelatinous  tissue,  (see  p.  100  ;)  but  varies  considerably  in  thickness  in  different  species. 
On  account  of  their  gelatinous  nature,  the  skins  of  some  fishes  are  used  as  food,  and  em- 
ployed for  various  purposes  in  the  arts.  Thus,  by  boiling,  the  skin  of  the  Turbot  and 
Ling  becomes  pulpy  and  gelatinous,  and  forms  a  rich  and  favorite  nutriment ;  and  vari- 
ous parts  about  the  jowl  of  the  Cod  are  much  esteemed  by  epicures,  on  account  of  their 
gelatinous  quality.  Sole  skins,  when  clean,  sweet,  and  well  prepared,  are  used  as  a  sub- 
stitute for  isinglass  in  fining,  (see  pp.  103,  105.)  Dr.  Fleming  says  that  the  skin  of  the 
Cod  is  employed  for  the  same  purpose.  Eel  skins  are  used  in  the  preparation  of  size. 

2.  Flesh. — The  great  bulk  of  the  soft  parts  of  fishes  consists  of  voluntary  muscles  form- 
ing the  jlesh,  which  are  disposed  upon  the  sides  of  the  spinal  column, — in  four  series  on 
either  side.  They  are  soft,  pellucid,  and  but  little  permeated  with  blood. 

The  composition  of  the  flesh  of  the  Cod,  Haddock,  Sole,  Carp,  and  Trout,  has  already 
been  stated,  (see  p.  111.)  It  will  be  seen,  by  reference  to  the  analyses  of  Brande  and 
Schlossberger,  that  fish-flesh  contains  more  water  than  the  flesh  of  either  quadrupeds  or 
birds. 

In  many  fishes  the  flesh  is  mixed  with,  or  covered  by,  oily  or  fatty  matter,  as  in  the 
Salmon,  the  Herring,  the  Pilchard,  the  Sprat,  and  the  Eel.  This  is  more  abundant  in 
the  thinner  or  abdominal  parts  than  in  the  thicker  or  dorsal  portions.  Hence  the  thin- 
nest part  of  salmon  is  preferred  by  epicures.  After  spawning,  the  quantity  of  this  oil  is 
greatly  diminished.  But  in  the  Cod,  the  fish  of  the  Ray  kind,  and  some  others,  the 
liver  is  the  only  organ  which  contains  fat ;  the  flesh  being  quite  devoid  of  it 

The  flesh  of  the  Smelt  has  been  analyzed  by  Morin,*  who  found  its  composition  to  be 
as  follows : — 

COMPOSITION  OF  THE  FLESH  OF  THE  SMELT. 


Vrellpw  phosphoric  oil. 

Fibrine. 

Albumen. 

Gelatine. 

Osmazome. 

Mucus. 


Salts — viz.  sal  ammoniac, 

phates  of  potash,  lime, 
iron,  and  magnesia ;  chlo- 
ride of  potassium,  carbo- 
nate of  lime,  and  lactate 
of  soda. 


Water. 

In  the  Cod  and  many  other  fishes,  the  muscles  are  arranged  in  more  or  less  wedge- 
shaped  masses,  called  flakes,  which,  after  cooking,  readily  separate  from  each  other, 
owing  partly  to  the  contraction  of  the  muscular  fibre,  and  partly  to  the  solution  of  the  in- 
terposed ligamentous  or  tendinous  matter.  The  white  curdy  matter  observed  between 
the  flakes  of  boiled  fresh  fish  is  a  film  of  albumen  produced  by  the  coagulation  of  the 
serous  juices  intervening  between  the  muscular  layers. 

In  the  flat  or  eel-shaped  fishes,  the  flesh  has  rather  a  fibrous  than  a  flaky  arrange- 
ment. 

The  flesh  of  the  Whiting,  the  Cod,  the  Haddock,  the  Sole,  the  Plaice,  the  Flounder, 

in  a  large  napkin,  in  which  they  were  shaken  until  completely  enveloped  with  flour.  In  this  state  they 
were  placed  in  a  cullender,  and  all  the  superfluous  flour  removed  by  sifting.  They  were  now  thrown 
into  hat  melted  lard,  contained  in  a  copper  caldron  or  stew-vessel  placed  over  a  charcoal  fire.  A  kind 
of  ebullition  immediately  commenced,  and  in  about  two  minutes  they  were  removed  by  a  tin  skimmer, 
thrown  into  a  cullender  to  drain,  and  served  up  by  placing  them  on  a  fish-drainer  in  a  dish.  At  table 
they  are  flavored  with  cayenne  and  lemon  juice,  and  eaten  with  brown-bread  and  butter ; — iced  punch 
being  the  favorite  accompanying  beverage. 
*  Journal  de  Pharmacie,  t.  viii.  p.  61. 


FISH. 


133 


the  Turbo  t*  and  many  other  species,  is  white  :  hence  they  are  termed  White-fish.  The 
flesh  of  these  fishes,  when  in  season,  becomes  white  and  opaque  by  boiling ;  but,  when 
the  animal  is  out  of  condition)  it  remains  semi-transparent  and  bluish  after  being  suffi- 
ciently cooked* 

The  flesh  of  some  species  is  colored  :  thus  that  of  the  Salmon  is  pale-red.  The  higher 
the  color*  the  more  highly  the  flesh  of  these  fishes  is  esteemed. 

The  flesh  of  the  male  fish,  called  the  melter  or  sofl-roed,  is  in  general  considered  to  be 
superior  to  that  of  the  female*  called  the  hard^roed-:  at  least  this  is  certainly  the  case  with 
the  Salmon  and  the  Herring, 

The  flesh  of  fish  is  in  the  greatest  perfection  for  food  at  the  period  of  the  ripening  of 
the  milt  and  the  roe.  It  is  then  said  to  be  in  season.  At  this  time>  the  flesh-,  especially 
of  the  thinner  or  abdominal  park  of  many  fishes,  as  of  the  Salmon  and  Herring,  abounds 
in  oily  matter,  and  possesses,  in  the  highest  degree,  flavor  and  richness.  But  after  the 
fish  has  deposited  its  spawn,  the  flesh  becomes  soft,  flabby,  and  inferior  in  flavor*  owing 
to  the  disappearance  of  the  oil  or  fat  which  has  been  consumed  in  the  function  of  repro- 
duction. "  The  superiority  of  deep-sea  herrings  over  those  caught  near  the  shore  and  in 
bays,  arises,"  says  Dr.  Fleming,*  "from  this  circumstance.  The  former  are  fat,  while  the 
latter  have  either  recently  spawned,  or  are  nearly  ready  for  spawning,  and  consequently 
lean." 

The  digestibility  of  fish  varies  considerably  in  different  species.  The  oily  fishes  are 
always  more  difficult  of  digestion  ;  and,  in  consequence,  are  unfit  for  the  use  of  invalids. 
Melted  butter,  lobster-sauce,  shrimp-sauce,  and  egg-sauce,  are  very  indigestible  additions 
to  fish  :  they  are  exceedingly  obnoxious  to  the  stomach,  and  should  be  excluded  from  the 
table  of  the  invalid,  (see  p.  84.)  The  digestibility  of  fish  is  also  injured  by  frying  them, 
(see  p.  83.) 

The  following  are  the  mean  times  of  digestion  of  several  kinds  of  fish,  according  to 
Dr.  Beaumont's  experiments : — 

DIGESTIBILITY  OF  FISH. 


ARTICLES 
OF 
DIET. 

MEAN  TIME  OF  CHYMIFICATION. 

IN   STOMACH. 

IN   PHIALS. 

Preparation. 

H.    M. 

Preparation. 

H.    M. 

Trout,  Salmon,  fresh 

u                 u            u 

("V  elfish,  cured  dry 
Flounder,  fresh  .     . 
Catfish,  fresh  .     .     . 
Salmon,  salted    .     . 

Boiled 
Fried 
Boiled 
Fried 
Fried 
Boiled 

1     30 
1     30 
2      0 
3     30 
3    30 
4      0 

Boiled 
Boiled 

Boiled 

3    30 
5~~  0 

7    45 

The  Whiting,  the  Haddock,  the  Sole,  the  Plaice,  the  Flounder,  the  Cod,  and  the  Tur- 
bot,  are  devoid  of  oil  or  fat,  (except  in  their  livers  ;)  and,  therefore,  belong  to  the  more 
easily  digestible  fish.  They  are  also  less  stimulating  to  the  system.  On  these  accounts 
they  are  preferred  to  other  species  for  the  use  of  invalids.  The  Whiting  and  the  Had- 
dock are  the  most  delicate  and  tender  ;  the  Turbot  and  Cod  the  least  so.  The  Whiting, 
sometimes  called  ''the  chicken  of  the  sea,"  stands  pre-eminent  among  them  for  its  ten- 
derness, delicacy,  easy  digestibility,  and  purity  of  flavor.  The  Haddock  is  very  similar 


*  Philosophy  of  Zoology,  vol.  ii.  p.  373. 


134  COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 

to  the  whiting,  but  has  a  firmer  texture,  and  is  inferior  in  flavor  and  digestibility.  The 
Cod,  when  in  good  condition,  yields  an  excellent  food,  but  it  is  denser,  less  delicate,  and 
probably  somewhat  less  easy  of  digestion,  than  either  the  whiting  or  haddock.  Crimped 
Cod  is  firmer,  keeps  longer,  and  has  a  better  flavor,  than  that  which  is  not  crimped.  The 
Dogger-Bank  Cod  is  more  flaky  than  the  Scotch  Cod,  which  is  stringy  or  woolly.*  Among 
flat  fish,  the  Sole  is  distinguished  for  its  tenderness,  delicacy,  and  easy  digestibility.  The 
Flounderf  and  the  Plaice,  especially  when  small,  are  tender  and  delicate.  The  Turbot 
for  flavor  is  justly  regarded  as  **  the  prince  of  flat  fish,"  but  is  richer  and  less  digestible  than 
the  flat  fish  just  mentioned.  The  gelatinous  skin  is  especially  unfit  for  delicate  stomachs. 
The  Brill,  though  an  excellent  fish,  is  inferior  in  flavor  to  the  turbo t,  for  which,  hov, 
it  is  sometimes  substituted.} 

Salmon,  Eels,  Herrings,  Pilchards,  and  Sprats,^  abound  in  oil,  and  are,  in  consequence, 
difficult  of  digestion,  very  apt  to  disturb  the  stomach,  and  exceedingly  injurious  to  the 
dyspeptic.  Moreover,  they  prove  stimulant  to  the  general  system.  The  thirst,  and  un- 
easy feeling  at  the  stomach,  frequently  experienced  after  the  use  of  the  richer  species  of 
fish,  have  led  to  the  employment  of  spirit  to  this  kind  of  food.  Hence  the  vulgar  proverb 
that  "  Brandy  is  Latin  for  Fish." 

The  flesh  of  fish  is  less  satisfying  to  the  appetite  than  the  flesh  of  either  quadrupeds 
or  birds.  As  it  contains  a  larger  proportion  of  water,  (see  p.  Ill,)  it  is  obviously  less 
nourishing.il  A  fish  diet,  therefore,  is  less  substantial  than  either  butcher's  meat  or  poul- 
try. Medicinally,  we  employ  it,  when  the  digestive  powers  are  unable  to  assimilate 
stronger  kinds  of  aliments,  or  when  it  is  considered  desirable  to  avoid  the  stimulus  which 


*  There  ore  two  well-marked  varieties  of  the  Cod,  which  are  known  respectively  as  Dogg(r-l{<ink 
and  Scotch  Cod.  The  first  has  a  sharp  nose,  elongated  before  the  eye,  and  the  body  of  a  very  dark- 
brown  color  :  the  second  has  a  round  blunt  nose,  short  and  wide  before  ihe  eyes,  and  the  body  of  a  light 
yellowish  ash-green  color.,  (*ee  Yarrell's  British  Ftshes.) 

t  Dr.  A.  T.  Thomson  (Domestic  Management  of  the  Sick  Room,  p.  431)  >  gives,  under  the  head  of 
"Cookery  for  the  Convalescent,"  the  following  directions  for  the  preparation  of  Water-Souclii/.  -  TaUe 
two  small  Thames  flounders,  boil  them  in  a  quart  of  water  to  one-third,  long  enough  to  reduce  the  ii.-h 
almost  lo  n  pulp.  Strain  tin*  liquor  through  a  sieve,  and,  having  cut  the  fins  off  four  other  small  floun- 
ders, put  them  into  the  above-mentioned  liquor,  with  a  sufficient  quantity  of  salt,  a  few  Bruins  oi  < -avenue 
pepper,  and  a  small  quantity  of  chopped  parsley  ;  and  boil  just  long  enough  to  render  tin-  fi.-.h  proper  to 
be  eaten.  The  fish  and  the  sauce  should  be  eaten  together.  If  flounders  are  not  in  season,  soles  or 
whitings,  or  small  haddocks,  may  be  prepared  in  the  same  manner.  1  know  few  dishes  which 
much  relished  as  this  by  convalescents  from  lever.  1  have  heard  invalids  ask  for  it  daily  for  ten  or 
more  days.  In  advanced  convalescence,  the  yolk  of  one  or  two  egiis  may  be  beaten  up  with  a  little  soft 
water,  and  added  to  the  strained  liquor  before  ihe  fi.-h  is  put  into  it." 

J  Appendix.  2. 

$  In  the  Standard  of  Ft  h  '.'.  1  -i  \'2,  is  a  notice  of  an  inquest  held  on  the  body  of  a  person  whose  death 
was  caused  by  the  use  of  sprats. 

II  Haller  (Klnn.  I'// y$..  xix.)  found  himself  weakened  by  a  fish  diet;  and  he  states  that  persons  are 
generally  debilitated  by  Lent  diet.  Pechlin  ( Observat.  phync o-medicce.  Hamburgi,  1691,  p.  513)  also 
states  that  a  mechanic  nourished  merely  by  fish  had  less  muscular  power  than  one  who  lived  on  the 
flesh  of  warm-blooded  animals.  Dr.  Cullen,  (Ma/.  Mcd.  vol.  i.  p.  390,)  however,  maintained  that  the  nu- 
tritive powers  of  fish  are  nearly,  if  not  quite,  equal  to  those  of  meat;  and  in  support  of  his  opinion  he 
states  that  ho  has  known  "several  instances  of  persons  who  felt  no  w<  ekness  from  a  L«nt  diet,  when  a 
great  deal  of  fish  was  taken  ;"  and  he  further  observes  that  there  are  'several  instance*  of  villa.. 
hab'ted  almost  only  by  fishers,  and  who,  therefore,  live  very  much  upon  tais  sort  of  aliment,  but  in 
whom  no  diminution  of  health  or  vigor  appear-."  His  evidence,  however,  is  by  no  means  satisfactory. 
But  to  avoid  the  fallacies  attendant  on  appeals  io  experience,  1  have  relied,  in  the  text,  on  the  chemical 
composition  of  fish,  as  an  c\idence  oi'  the  r  ii  lerior  nutritive  power. 


j; 
FISH.  135      ' 


butcher's  meat  communicates  to  the  system.  "  The  jockeys  who  waste  tfiemselves  at 
Newmarket,  in  order  to  reduce  their  weight,  are  never  allowed  meat,  when  fish  can  be  ob- 
tained."* 

It  is  an  ancient  and  popular  notion  that  the  frequent  employment  o'  fish  is  favorable  to 
the  powers  of  generation  ;  and  that  those  who  live  principally  on  this  kind  of  food  are 
unusually  prolific.!  These  effects  have  been  ascribed  to  the  oil  contained  in  fishes,  the 
phosphorus  of  which  possesses  aphrodisiac  properties.  That  the  frequent  use  of  those 
fish  which  abound  in  phosphoric  oil  may  have  an  exciting  effect  on  persons  previously 
unaccustomed  to  this  kind  of  diet,  I  am  neither  prepared  to  admit  nor  to  deny.  But 
there  is,  I  think,  sufficient  evidence  to  prove  that  the  ichthyophagous  people  are  not 
more  prolific  than  others.  "  In  Greenland,  and  among  the  Esquimaux,"  says  Foster,! 
"  where  the  natives  live  chiefly  upon  fish,  seals,  and  oily  animal  substances,  the  women 
seldom  bear  children  often er  than  three  or  four  times  :  five  or  six  births  are  reckoned  a 
very  extraordinary  instance.  The  Pesserais,  whom  we  saw,  had  not  above  two  or  three 
children  belonging'to  each  family,  though  their  common  food  consisted  of  muscles,  fish, 
and  seal  flesh.  The  New  Zealanders  absolutely  feed  on  fish,  and  yet  no  more  than  three 
or  four  children  were  found  in  the  most  prolific  families  ;  which  seems  strongly  to  indi- 
cate that  feeding  on  fish  by  no  means  contributes  to  the  increase  of  numbers  in  a  na- 
tion." 

An  ill  effect  ascribed  to  fish  diet  is  the  production  or  augmentation  of  skin  diseases,  es- 
pecially leprosy  and  elephantiasis.  This  notion  is  a  very  ancient  one,  and  probably  has 
some  foundation  in  fact.  It  is  not  improbable  that  it  was,  in  part  at  least,  the  origin  of 
the  prohibition  from  eating  fish,  under  which  the  Egyptians  labored  ;§  as  well  as  of  the 
Mosaic  law,  that  fish  without  fins  and  scales  must  not  be  eaten.|j 

Some  species  of  fish,  especially  in  tropical  climates,  possess  poisonous  properties,  either 
at  all  times  or  at  certain  seasons  ;  or  to  all  persons  or  only  to  particular  individuals.  The 
subject,  however,  is  veiled  in  great  obscurity.  Sbmetimes  the  symptoms  are  allied  to 
those  of  cholera.  An. eruption,  (often  resembling  nettle-rash,)  and  various  nervous  symp- 
toms, (as  trembling  or  convulsive  twitches  of  the  limbs,  paralysis,  and  stupor,)  are  occa- 
sionally observed.  These  poisonous  effects  have  been  variously  ascribed  to  the  aliment 
on  which  the  fish  have  fed, — to  disease  in  the  fish,  to  the  putrefaction  of  the  fish,  and  to 
the  idiosyncrasy  of  the  patient :  but  none  of  these  hypotheses  are  satisfactory. 

"  For  dietetical  uses,  fishe^  have  frequently  to  undergo  some  sort  of  preparation,  vary- 
ing according  to  the  situation,  the  necessities,  or  the  taste  of  the  consumers.  When  cir- 
cumstances permit,  they  are  in  general  used  in  a  fresh  state ;  and  in  large  cities,  where 
the  supply  must  be  brought  from  a  distance,  various  expedients  are  resorted  to,  to  pre- 
vent the  progress  of  putrefaction.  By  far  the  best  contrivance  for  this  purpose  is  the 
well-boat,  in  which  fish  may  be  brought  to  the  place  of  sale  even  in  a  living  state.  Placing 
the  fish  in  boxes,  and  packing  with  ice,  is  another  method,  and  has  been  extensively  em- 
ployed, particularly  in  the  supply  of  the  capital  with  salmon. 

"In  many  maritime  districts,  where  fish  can  be  got  in  abundance,  a  species  of  refine- 
ment in  taste,  or  at  least  a  departure  from  the  simplicity  of  nature,  prevails,  to  gratify 

*  A  Treatise  on  Diet,  p.  210-211,  5th  ed.     1837. 

t  Montesquieu  (OBuvres  Completes,  t.  51-2,  1767)  mentions,  as  instances  in  point,  the  Japanese  and 
Chinese. 

t  Observations  made  during  a  Voyage  Round  the  World,  p.  315.     Lond.  17"  S. 

$  Herodotus,  (Euterpe,  xxxvii.)  Perhaps  the  supposed  aphrodisiac  effec  of  fi&h  may  have  been  one 
of  the  causes  of  the  prohibition. 

||  Leviticus,  ch.  xi.  verse  ix— xii. 


133  COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 


which,  the  fish  are  kept  for  some  days,  until  they  begin  to  putrefy.  When  used  in  this 
state  they  are  far  from  disagreeable,  unless  to  the  organs  of  smell.  Such  fish  are  termed 
by  the  Zetlanders  blawn-fish. 

"  Where  fish  are  to  be  procured  only  at  certain  seasons  of  the  year,  various  methods 
have  been  devised  to  preserve  them  during  the  periods  of  scarcity.  The  simplest  of 
these  processes  is  to  d~y  them  »n  the  sun.  They  are  then  used  either  raw  or  boiled,  and 
and  not  unfrequently,  in  some  of  the  poorer  districts  of  the  north  of  Europe,  they  are 
ground  into  powder,  to  be  afterwards  formed  into  bread. 

"But  by  far  the  most  successful  method  of  preserving  fish,  and  the  one  in  daily  use,  is 
by  means  of  salt.  For  this  purpose  they  are  packed  with  salt  in  barrels,  as  soon  after 
being  taken  as  possible.  In  this  mariner  are  herrings,  pilchards,  cod,  and  salmon  pre- 
served, as  well  as  many  other  kinds  of  esculent  fish. 

"  The  fish,  in  many  instances,  after  having  been  salted  in  vessels  constructed  for  the 
purpose,  are  exposed  to  the  air  on  a  gravelly  beach,  or  in  a  house,  and  dried.  Cod,  ling, 
and  tusk,  so  prepared,  are  termed  in  Scotland,  salt-fish.  Salmon  in  this  state  is  called 
kipper;  and  haddocks  are  usually  denominated  by  the  name  of  the  place  where  they  have 
been  cured. 

"After  being  steeped  in  salt,  herrings  are,  in  many  places,  hung  up  in  houses  made  for 
the  purpose,  and  dried  with  the  smoke  of  wood.  In  this  state  they  are  sent  to  market, 
under  the  name  of  red-herrings. 

"Although  salt  is  generally  employed  in  the  preservation  of  fish,  whether  intended  to 
be  kept  moist  or  to  be  dried,  vinegar  in  certain  cases  is  added.  It  is  used,  in  this  coun- 
try at  least,  chiefly  for  the  salmon  sent  from  the  remote  districts  to  the  London  market. 
It  can  only,  however,  be  employed  in  the  preservation  of  those  fish  to  which  this  acid  is 
served  as  a  sauce."* 

By  drying,  salting,  smoking,  and  pickling,  the  digestibility  of  fish  is  greatly  impaired  ; 
though,  in  some  cases,  their  savory,  stimulating,  and  even  nutritive  qualities,  may  be  aug- 
mented. Dried,  sailed,  smoked,  and  pickled  fish,  therefore,  are  totally  unfit  for  dyspeptics 
and  invalids.  By  drying,  part  of  the  water  is  got  rid  of,  and  thereby  the  relative  propor- 
tion of  solid  or  nutritive  matter  is  augmented  :  but  the  fish  is  more  difficult  of  digr.-tion. 
Salt-fish  excites  thirst  and  feverish  symptoms.  Smoked-fish,  as  smoked  sprats,  some- 
times prove  injurious.  "Putrid  pickled  salmonf  has  occasioned  death  in  this  country  ; 
arid  I  may  mention,"  says  Dr.  Christison,}  "that  I  have  known  most  violent  diarrhoea 
occasioned  in  two  instances  by  a  very  small  portion  of  the  oiTy  matter  about  the  fins  of 
Kipper  or  smoked  salmon,  so  that  I  have  no  doubt  a  moderate  quantity  would  produce 
very  serious  effects." 

3.  Viscera. — Several  of  the  viscera  of  fishes  are  used  as  aliments ;  as  the  Liver,  the 
Swimming  Bladder,  the  Roe  or  Ovary,  and  the  Milt  or  Testicle. 

a.  The  Liter. — The  livers  of  fishes  always  abound  iii  oil.  In  the  Cod,  the  Whiting, 
the  flat  fish,  and  some  others,  this  is  the  only  organ  which  contains  oil.  Though  the 
livers  of  some  fishes,  as  the  Cod  and  Barbot,  are  much  admired  as  articles  of  food,  yet 
they  are  not  adapted  for  invalids  and  dyspeptics,  on  account  of  their  fatty  nature.  The 
oil  obtained  from  the  liver  of  the  Cod  (Cod  oil}  is  celebrated  in  obstinate  rheumatic,  gouty, 

*  Fleming's  Philosophy  of  Zoology,  vol.  ii.  p.  371-2. 

t  "The  three  indispensable  marks  of  the  goodness  of  Pickled  Salmon  are,  1st,  The  brightness  of  the 
scales,  and  their  sticking  fast  to  the  skin  ;  2dly,  The  firmness  of  the  flesh ;  and,  2dly,  Its  fine  pale- 
red  rose  color :— without  these  it  is  not  fit  to  eat,  and  wa»  stale  either  before  it  was  pickled,  or  has  been 
kept  too  long  after,"  (Dr.  Kitchener,  Cook's  Oracle.) 

t  Treatise  on  Poisons,  p.  5'J3.     3d  ed. 


FISH. 


137 


and  scrofulous  maladies,  as  well  as  in  chronic  skin  diseases.  Dr.  Ure*  has  suggested  the 
adoption  of  cod  livers  as  a  diet  for  patients  who  are  recommended  to  take  the  oil,  which, 
on  account  of  its  nauseous  flavor,  is  very  objectionable.  In  order  to  prevent  the  loss  of 
oil  during  the  process  of  cooking,  "he  recommends  the  livers  to  be  immersed  entire  in 
boiling  water,  to  which  a  sufficient  quantity  of  salt  has  been  added,  to  raise  the  boiling 
point  about  220°  F.  The  sudden  application  of  this  high  temperature  coagulates  the  al- 
bumen of  the  liver,  and  prevents  the  escape  of  the  oil.  When  the  liver  is  cut,  the  oil 
exudes,  and  mashed  potato  may  be  used  as  a  vehicle." 

The  constituents  of  cod-liver  oil  are  stated  to  be  as  follows  • — 

COMPOSITION  OF  COD-LIVER  OIL 


Chlorides  of  calcium  and  sodium. 
Sulphate  of  potash. 
Iodide  of  copper. 
Brouiide  of  potassium. 


Fatty  matter  (oleio  and  margaric  acids  com- 
bined with  glycerine.) 
Resin. 
Gelatine. 
Coloring  matter. 

The  two  last  ingredients  were  detected  by  Herberger ;  but  Dr.  Ure  has  recently  statedf 
that  he  could  not  detect  iodine  in  the  cod-liver  oil  sold  in  London. 

b.  The  Swimming  Bladder. — This  organ  is  a  gelatinous  tissue,  and  has  already  been 
considered,  (see  pp.  103-106.)     It  constitutes  the  well-known  Isinglass  and  Sound. 

c.  The  Roe  or  Ovary,  commonly  called  the  Hard  Roe,  of  many  fishes  is  eaten.     That 
of  the  Carp,  Pike,  Perch,  Salmon,  Trout,  and  many  other  fishes,  furnishes  a  much  es- 
teemed and  nourishing  aliment.     The  roe  of  the  Barbel,  and  of  some  others,  has  at  limes 
proved  injurious ;  giving  rise  to  nausea,  vomiting,  and  purging. 

The  roe  has  been  analyzed  by  several  chemists ;  that  of  the  Pike  by  Vauquelin,|  of  the 
Trout  and  Carp  by  Morin,§  and  of  the  Barbel  by  Dulong  d'Astafort.||  Their  results  show 
that  the  roes  of  different  fishes  have  a  similar  composition  and  bear  a  striking  analogy 
to  the  eggs  of  birds. 

COMPOSITION  OF  THE  ROE  OF  FISHES. 

Carp.        Barbel. 


0 
0 

0 

t 

0 


Pike.        Tro 

Albumen 

+           -1 

Osmazome 

0 

Gelatine 

Oil 

Phosphorus 

Sal-Ammoniac 

Chloride  of  Sodium 

C 

Chloride  of  Potassium 

H 

Phosphate  of  Potash 
of  Lime 

: 

"          of  Magnesia 

t 

Sulphate  of  Potash 

C 

Carbonate  of  Soda 

(L 

-I 

"         of  Potash 

0 

"         of  Lime 

0           H 

An  organic  salt  with  base  of  potash 

0              C 

t 
t 


The  purgative  property,  said  to  be  possessed  by  the  roe  both  of  the  Pike  and  the  Bar- 
bel, is  ascribed  to  the  oil,  which  possesses  acrid  properties. 

The  substance  called  Caviare^  is  the  roe  of  several  species  of  Acipenser,  (Sturgeons,) 
preserved  by  salting.  The  best  is  that  prepared  on  the  shores  of  the  Caspian.  The  fol- 
lowing is  the  composition  of  Caviare  : — 

*  Pharmaceutical  Journal,  vol.  ii.  p.  361.  t  Ibid  p.  459. 

t  Journal  de  Pharmacie  t.  iii.  p.  385.  $  Ibid.  t.  ix.  p.  203. 

II  Ibid.  t.  xiii.  p.  521. 

If  Several  kinds  of  Caviare  are  met  with  in  Russia.  The  worst  sort  is  the  common  pressed  caviare, 
(pajusnaja  ikra.)  A  better  sort  is  that  called  grained  caviare,  (sernislaia  ikra.)  The  cleanest  and  best 


138  COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 


COMPOSITION  OF  CAVIARE. 


Yellow  odorous  fatty  oil 
Soluble  albumen    . 
Insoluble  albumen 


Gelatine,  with  some  salts 
Water 


43 
6-2 

24-8 


Chloride  of  sodium  and  sulphate  of  soda       .  6'7 


0-5 
57-5 


Fresh  unpressed  Caviare  .  100  0 

Caviare  is  difficult  of  digestion,  and  apt  to  excite  nausea.  Very  little  of  it  is  used  in 
England  ;  but  considerable  quantities  of  it  are  exported  from  Russia  to  Italy.  It  is 
extensively  employed  in  Russia  and  other  places  on  fast-days  ;  and  i?  eaten  raw  with 
toasted  bread,  or  with  vinegar  and  oil,  or  with  lemon  juice. 

4.  Milt  or  Testicle.— This  is  usually  called  the  Soft  Roe.  Messrs.  Fourcroy  and  Yau- 
quelin  analyzed  the  milt  of  the  Carp  ;  and  John,  that  of  the  Tench.  The  milt  of  the  Carp 
consisted  of  75  parts  water  and  25*parts  of  dry  residuum. 

COMPOSITION  OF  THE  MILT  OF  THE  TENCH. 

White  fat.  Phosphates  of  ammonia,  lime,  magnesia, 
Osmazome.  and  potash  or  soda. 

Animal  Jelly.  Water. 
Insoluble  albumen. 

It  appears  from  Fourcroy  and  Vauquelin's  experiments  that  phosphorus  (not  as  phos- 
phoric acid)  exists  in  the  milt 

The  milt  of  the  Cod  is  used  as  a  garnish,  and  is  eaten  at  the  table ;  but,  on  account  of 
its  fatty  constituent,  is  not  adapted  for  delicate  stomachs.  That  of  the  Herring  i 
employed  as  food.  The  latter  (lestes  harengi)  has  been  recommended  by  Ritter,  Neumann, 
Frank,  Siemerling,  and  Hufeland,  as  a  remedy  for  obstinate  cough,  hoarseness,  and  phthisis 
laryngea.  It  is  to  be  taken  in  the  morning  fasting.  'Its  efficacy  (?)  has  been  ascribed  to 
the  common  salt  which  it  contains. 

CLASS  V.  CRUSTACEA.— CRUSTACEANS. 

Many  of  the  species  of  this  class  are  esculent;  and  some  of  them  form  highly  ^s 
ed  articles  of  food.     Those   in  use   in   this  country  are  the  Common  Lobster,  (  \ 
ni/irinus,)  the  Thorny  Lobster,  better  known  as  the  Common  Sea  Crawfish,  (Palinuriix 
vulgaris,')  the  River  Crawfish,  (Astacus  jluviatilis,}   the   Large  Edible  or  B!ack-cla\\.>d 
Crab,  (Cancer  Pagurus,)  the  Common  or  Small  Edible  Crab,  (Cancer  Manas,)  the  Prawn, 
(Palccmon  serra/us,)  and  the  Shrimp,  (Crangon  vulgaris.) 

These  Crustaceans  have  "  a  white  firm  flesh,  which  contains  much  gelatine.  In  the 
membrane,  which  encloses  the  calcareous  shell,  is  found  a  resinous  substance,  which,  in 
the  living  animals,  is  of  a  brownish-green  color,  but  becomes  red  by  boiling.  From  this 
matter  proceeds  the  peculiar  odor  and  taste  of  these  animals.  The  flesh  is  difficult  of  diges- 
tion ;  the  broth  is  stimulant.  In  febrile  and  inflammatory  complaint?,  their  use  is  injurious."* 

The  coloring  matter  of  the  shells  of  the  crustaceans,  above  referred  to,  has  been  termed 
Cancrin.  Its  composition  is  as  follows  : — 

COMPOSITION  OF  CANCRIN  OR  COLORING  MATTER  OF  CRUSTACEANS 

16  atoms  of  Carbon       .  96    or  per  cent     .         .        .  68-08 

-     13  atoms  of  Hydrogen  13                  ....  9-,-J 

4  atoms  of  Oxygen     .            .        .        32 22-70 

1  atom  of  Cancrin  '.        '.      141                  ....  lOO^OO 

sort  bag-pressed  caviare,  (Meschechaja  Utra.)    In  some  parts  of  Russia  a  reddish  kind  of  caviare  (Krafnnja 
ikra)  is  prepared  from  the  roes  of  the  white  salmon  and  pike.      For  further  information  consult  Brandt 
and  Ratzeburg's  Medicinische  Zoologie ;  and  Tooke's  View  uj  the  Russian  Empire,  vol.  iii.,  p.  467-469.) 
*  Tiedemann,  UntersuchungenuberNahrungs-Bedurfniss,&c 


MOLLUSKS.  139 


Both  the  Crab  and  the  Lobster  excite,  in  some  constitutions,  Urticaria  or  nettle-rash,  and 
even  colic.  Neither  of  them  are  easily  digestible  ;  so  that,  though  they  form  very  agree- 
ble  and  moderately  nutritive  articles  of  food,  they  are  not  appropriate  substances  for  dys- 
peptics or  invalids. 

Ths  parts  of  Crustaceans  employed  as  food  are  the  muscles  and  some  of  the  viscera. 
The  branchiae  or  gills  are  commonly  known  under  the  name  of  dead  men1  s  fingers.  The 
muscles  (flesli)  of  the  lobster  and  crab  are  principally  confined  to  the  parts  moving  the 
tail  and  limbs.  Their  alimentary  properties  are  very  similar  to  those  of  fishes. 

Both  lobsters  and  crabs  are  apt  to  disagree  with  some  persons ;  and  to  give  rise  to  a 
sensation  of  heaviness  at  the  epigastrium,  nausea,  depression,  giddiness,  and  nettle-rash. 
Cullen  mentions  violent  colic  as  also  having  been  produced  in  several  instances.  These 
effects  appear  to  depend  on  some  peculiar  susceptibility  (idiosyncrasy)  of  particular  per- 
sons. Tn  some  parts  of  the  world  poisonous  crustaceans  are  found. 

The  Lobster  is  found  in  considerable  abundance  on  the  rocky  coasts  of  various  parts 
of  England  and  Scotland.  The  males  are  preferred,  especially  in  winter,  for  eating : 
they  are  distinguished  by  the  narrowness  of  their  tails,  and  by  "  their  having  a  strong 
spine  upon  the  centre  of  each  of  the  transverse  processes  beneath  the  tail,  which  support 
the  four  middle  plates  of  their  tails."  The  females  (called  hen-lobsters)  are  preferred  for 
making  sauce  on  account  of  the  coral  (ovary")  and  spawn,  (ova  or  eggs ;)  the  former, 
when  boiled,  is  bright  red,  and  is  useful  for  garnishing  ;  the  latter  serves  to  communicate 
both  color  and  flavor.  They  are  known  by  their  broader  tail  and  smaller  claws.  The 
muscles  (flesli  or  meat}  of  the  lobster  reside  principally  in  the  tail  and  claws :  those  of 
the  claws  being  more  tender,  delicate,  and  easily  digestible.  It  is  a  popular  notion  that  a 
part  of  the  body  of  the  lobster,  called  "  the  old  lady  in  her  arm-chair"  proves  injurious 
when  eaten.  This  part  is  the  bony  teeth  of  the  stomach,  and,  being  indigestible,  should 
not  be  eaten.  The  bag,  in  which  "  the  old  lady  "  is  contained,  is  the  stomach.  The 
flavor  of  the  lobster  is  generally  considered  to  be  superior  in  both  purity  and  delicacy  to 
that  of  the  other  crustaceans.  But,  on  account  of  its  difficult  digestibility,  as  well  as  of 
its  occasional  ill  effects,  before  referred  to,  it  does  not  form  a  fit  aliment  for  invalids 
and  dyspeptics.  "As  found  in  the  London  market,"  says  Dr.  Paris,  lobsters  "are 
generally  under  boiled,  with  a  view  to  their  better  keeping ;  and  in  that  case  they  are 
highly  indigestible."  The  injurious  effects  of  lobster  sauce  have  been  already  alluded  to, 
(see  p.  133.) 

The  Sea  Crawfish  is  frequently  used  as  a  substitute  for  the  lobster,  with  which  it  agrees 
in  its  general  alimentry  properties.  But  it  is  usually  thought  to  be  inferior  in  delicacy  of 
flavor  and  tenderness. 

Of  the  Crab  the  same  remarks  may  be  made.  The  muscles  or  Jlesh  (contained  in  the 
claws)  is  much  less  apt  to  disturb  the  stomach  than  the  viscera  (liver,  testicles,  ovaries, 
&c.,)  which  constitute  the  soft  contents  of  the  shell. 

Prawns  and  Shrimps  are  almost  universal  favorites  on  account  of  their  delicious  flavor. 
They  are  generally  and  correctly  regarded  as  being  easier  of  digestion  than  the  preceding 
crustaceans.* 

CLASS  VI.  MOLLUSCA.— MULLUSKS. 

In  England  a  few  species  only  of  this  class  are  fised  as  food.  Among  the  bivalves, 
the  principal  are  the  Oyster,  the  Mussel,  the  Cockle,  and  the  Scallop:  among  univalves, 
we  have  the  Periwinkle,  the  Limpet,  and  the  Whelk.  To  these,  as  well  as  to  the 
Crustaceans,  (Lobsters,  Crabs,  &c.,)  the  term  Shell  Fish  is  usually  applied. 

*  Appendix,  3. 


140 


COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 


Some  of  the  edible  mollusks  are  principally  and  extensively  used  by  the  poor  ;  but  the 
Oyster  constitutes  a  favorite  article  of  food  to  all  classes. 

Molluscous  foods  are  not  without  danger  ;  since  Mussels,  and  even  Oysters,  occasion- 
ally give  rise  to  deleterious  effects. 

The  Oyster  holds  the  most  distinguished  place  among  the  foods  of  this  class.  It  was 
greatly  admired  by  the  luxurious  Romans,  who  highly  esteemed  the  Oysters  of  Britain. 
They  are  found  on  various  parts  of  our  coast,  and  are  caught  by  dredging.  But,  in  order 
to  improve  their  flavor  and  size,  or,  as  it  is  termed,  to  fatten  them,  they  are  not  immedi- 
ately consumed,  but  are  laid  in  beds  in  creeks  along  shore,  where  they  rapidly  improve. 
Colchester  and  other  places  of  Essex  are  the  nurseries  or  feeding  grounds  for  the  me- 
tropolis. . 

The  flesh,  and  the  liquor  or  water,  of  the  oyster  have  been  analyzed  by  Pasquier.* 


Fibrine 

Albumen 

Gelatine 

Osmazome 

Mucus 

Water     , 


COMPOSITION  OF  THE  OYSTER. 
Flesh. 


12-6 


87-4 


Liquor  or  Water. 
Osmazome. 
Albumen. 

Chloride  of  sodium. 
Sulphate  of  lime. 
Sulphate  of  magnesia. 
Chloride  of  magnesium. 
Water. 


100-0 

By  incineration  the  organic  m.itu-rs 
yielded  1-84  of  a  white  ash,  contain- 
ing phosphate  of  lime  and  the  same  salts 
as  the  liquor  contained. 

The  oyster  furnishes  a  delicious  and  favorite  article  of  food.  It  is  more  digestible  in 
the  raw  state  than  when  cooked,  (by  roasting,  scolloping,  or  stewing ;)  for  the  heat  em- 
ployed coagulates  and  hardens  the  albumen,  and  corrugates  the  fibrine,  which  are  then 
less  easily  soluble  in  the  gastric  juice  ;  and  the  heated  butter,  generally  used  as  an  ac- 
companiment, adds  still  more  to  the  indigestibility  of  the  oyster.  The  following  are  the 
mean  times  of  digestion  of  oysters,  according  to  the  experiments  of  Dr.  Beaumont : — 

DIGESTIBILITY  OF  OYSTERS. 


ARTICLES  OF  DIET. 

MEAN  TLME  OF  CHYMIFICATIO.Y 

IN  STOMACH. 

IN  PHIALS. 

Preparation. 

H.    M. 

Preparation. 

If.    M. 

Raw 
Roasted 
Stewed 

2       55 
3        15 
3        30 

Raw,  entire 
Stewed 

1       30 
8       25 

U                     II 

As  far  as  my  own  personal  observation  extends,  the  finest  raw  oysters  of  the  London 
market,  usually  called  natives,  rarely  disagree  even  with  convalescents  and  dyspeptics  ; 
and  Dr.  Cullen  declares  oysters  to  be  easy  of  digestion.  But  the  experience  of  some 
other  physicians  is  very  different  to  this.  In  the  raw  state,  says  Dr.  Pearson,f  "  they 
agree  very  well  with  strong  stomachs,  but  by  no  means  so  with  persons  who  are  subject 
to  indigestion  ;  and  dyspeptic  and  gouty  persons,  who  have  ventured  to  swallow  them  in 
this  state,  have  often  been  violently  disordered  by  them.  Such  person?  if  they  eat  them 

*  Merat  and  De  Lens,  Dict.de  Mat.  Med.  t.  v. ;  and  Gmelin,  Handb.d.  Chemic,  vol.  ii.  p.  1478. 
t  A  Practical  Synopsis  oftheMateria  Alimentaria  and  Materia  Medico,  p.  55.  1808. 


MOLLUSKS.  141 


at  all,  should  have  them  well  stewed  and  seasoned  with  some  aromatic.  But  even  in  that 
state  they  should  be  eaten  rather  sparingly  in  the  instances  above  mentioned."  Dr. 
Paris*  also  observes,  that  "  when  eaten  cold,  they  are  frequently  distressing  to  weak 
stomachs,  and  require  the  aid  of  pepper  as  a  stimulant ;  and  since  they  are  usually  swal- 
lowed without  mastication,  the  stomach  has  an  additional  labor  to  perform,  in  order  to 
reduce  them  into  chyme."  In  reply  to  this  last  statement,  however,  it  may  be  observed, 
that  Dr.  Beaumont  found  that  an  entire  raw  oyster  was  chymified,  in  a  phial,  in  7i  hours, 
— while  masticated  beefsteak  required  8i  hours. 

It  cannot  be  doubted  that  oysters  disagree  with  some  constitutions;  and  that  occa- 
sionally they  have  appeared  to  possess  noxious  properties.  But  considering  the  enor- 
mous consumption  of  these  animals,  their  supposed  deleterious  effects  are  exceedingly 
rare.f  The  late  Dr.  Clarke]:  has  related  some  remarkable  cases,  in  which  convulsions, 
followed  in  two  cases  by  death,  occurred  in  women  who  had  taken  oysters  soon  after 
their  delivery.  But  we  are  not  authorized  in  adopting  his  conclusion,  that  fresh  healthy 
oysters  are  apt  to  occasion  apoplexy  and  convulsions  in  puerperal  women.  The  fact 
that  the  symptoms  did  not  come  on  until  the  day  after  the  oysters  were  taken,  is  against 
such  an  assumption. 

The  green  color,  which  certain  parts  of  the  oyster  sometimes  assume,  has  been  as- 
cribed by  some  to  marine  Ulvae,  on  which  the  animal  has  fed, — by  others,  to  the  absorp- 
tion of  a  green-colored  microscopical  animalcule,  (called  Vibrio  ostrearius.')  Very  recently, 
Valenciennes^  has  shown  that  the  green  coloring  matter  is  a  peculiar  organic  substance, 
derived  perhaps  from  a  peculiar  state  of  the  bile  of  the  animal.  The  popular  notion  that 
the  color  is  produced  by  coppery  beds,  on  which  the  animal  is  supposed  to  have  laid,  is 
totally  unfounded.|| 

It  is  a  popular  notion  that  the  oyster  possesses  aphrodisiac  properties,  derived  from  the 
phosphorus  which  it  contains ;  but  it  has  not  yet  been  shown  that  oysters  contain  more 
phosphorus  than  the  flesh  of  other  animals. 

As  100  parts  of  the  flesh  of  the  oyster  contain  only  about  12-6  parts  of  solid  matter, 
while  100  parts  of  butchers'  meat  contain,  on  an  average,  about  25  parts,  it  is  obvious 
that  oysters  must  be  less  nutritive  than  butchers'  meat. 

When  eaten  raw  it  is  customary  to  swallow  the  oyster  entire  ;  but  for  stewing  or 
making  sauce  they  are  deprived  of  the  beard,  (the  branchiee  or  gills.) IF  The  indigestible 
nature  of  oyster  sauce  has  been  alluded  to. 

*  Treatise  on  Diet. 

t  Some  cases  of  supposed  deleterious  properties  acquired  by  oysters  are  referred  to  by  Dr.  Christison, 
(Treatise  on  Poisons,)  as  having  occurred  in  the  years  1816-19  at  Havre  and  Dunkirk.  But  it  is  by  no 
means  clear  that  the  diseases  which  prevailed  at  these  places  originated  from  the  use  of  oysters.  MM. 
Vauquelin  and  Chaussier,  who  were  appointed  to  inquire  into  these  cases,  denied  that  they  were  caused 
by  oysters,  since  many  persons  were  attacked  who  had  not  eaten  them.  (See  Merat  and  De  Lens,  Diet, 
de  Mat.  Med.  vol.  v.  p.  123.) 

I  Transactions  of  the  London  College  of  Physicians,  vol.  v.  p.  109. 

§  Comptes  Rendus,  t.  xii.  p.  315.     Fevrier,  1841. 

I!  "  I  am  acquainted  with  a  lady,"  says  Dr.  Paris,  (Treatise  on  Diet,  p.  8,  5th  ed.,)  "  who  is  constantly 
made  sick  by  eating  a  green  oyster ;  the  cause  of  which  may  be  traced  to  an  erroneous  impression  she 
received  with  respect  to  the  coloring  matter  being  cupreous." 

IT  "  We  cannot  walk  the  streets  without  noticing  that,  in  the  fish-shops,  the  oysters  are  laid  with  their 
flat  sides  uppermost ;  they  would  die  were  it  otherwise.  The  animal  breathes  and  feeds  by  opening  its 
shell,  and  thereby  receiving  anew  portion  of  water  into  the  concavity  of  its  under  shell ;  and  if  it  did 
not  thus  open  its  shell,  the  water  would  neither  be  propelled  through  its  branchiae  or  respiratory  appara- 
tus, nor  sifted  for  its  food.  It  is  in  this  manner  that  they  lie  in  their  native  beds  :  were  they  on  their  flat 


142  COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 


Oysters  have  been  employed  as  medicinal  agents  in  phthisis,  (in  which  disease  they 
have  been  vauntt  d  as  a  specific,)  in  chronic  affections  of  the  digestive  organs,  in  scrofula, 
and  several  other  complaints.  They  are  useful  as  nutrients  in  the  stage  of  convalescence 
of  many  disorders,  but  I  am  unacquainted  with  any  evidence  of  their  curative  powers 
bsyond  this. 

The  Mussel  is  used  as  food  by  the  lower  classes  principally.  Its  flesh  is  yellowish 
and  difficult  of  digestion.  Dr.  Paris*  states  that  the  common  people,  in  eating  mi: 
take  out  a  dark  part,  (the  heart,)  which  is  erroneously  supposed  to  be  poisonous.  Under 
some  circumstances  mussels  acquire  deleterious  qualities,  and  occasionally  prove  fatal. 
The  symptoms  which  they  give  rise  to,  however,  are  by  no  means  uniform.  At  one 
time  they  are  those  of  irritation  of  the  alimentary  canal ;  but  "  much  more  commonly  the 
local  effects  have  been  trifling,  and  the  prominent  symptoms  have  been  almost  entirely 
indirect,  and  chiefly  nervous.  Two  affections  of  this  kind  have  been  noticed.  One  is  an 
eruptive  disease,  resembling  nettle-rash,  and  accompanied  with  violent  asthma  ;  the  other, 
a  comatose  or  paralytic  disorder  of  a  very  peculiar  description."!  The  presence  of  cop- 
per, a  putrid  condition  of  the  mussels,  idiosyncrasy  on  the  part  of  the  sufferers,  a  mor- 
bid condition  of  the  mussels,  and  the  poisonous  quality  of  their  food,  (medusa?  or  starfish,) 
have,  at  different  times,  been  supposed  to  be  the  source  of  the  deleterious  effects ;  but  at 
present  the  cause  is  involved  in  considerable  obscurity.J 

Cockles,  Scallops,  Periwinkles,  Limpets,  and  Whelks,  are  of  inferior  moment  as  aliments. 
They  are  principally  used  by  the  poorer  inhabitants  on  the  coast,  and  are  not  adapted 
for  persons  of  delicate  stomachs.  Snails  are  employed  in  some  countries  as  food.  In 
England  the  Great  or  Vineyard  Snail  (Helix  pomatia)  is  a  popular  remedy  for  emacia- 
tion with  hectic  fever  and  phthisis,  on  account  of  its  nourishing  qualities.  FiguierJ  says 
its  medicinal  property  resides  in  an  oil,  which  he  calls  Helicine.\\ 

DISEASED  AND  DECAYED  ANIMAL  SUBSTANCES. — On  several  occasions  (pp.  121.  l'J-'l  U-\ 
and  135-141)  I  have  incidentally  alluded  to  the  deleterious  qualities  sometimes  acquired 
by  certain  animal  foods.     It  deserves,  however,  to  be  specially  noticed,  with  re*;; 
animal  foods  in  general,    that   when  obtained    from    animals  affected  with   dis.e. 
the  time  of  their  death,  they  are  always  dangerous,  and  have  in  some  cases  proved 
fatal.! 

Moreover,  Animal  foods,  even  if  procured  from  perfectly  healthy  individual?,  some- 
times suffer  a  peculiar  kind  of  decay  or  putrefaction,  by  which  they  acquire  poisonous 
properties.  '  Thus,  Sanies  made  of  the  flesh,  viscera,  or  blood  of  animals,  and  cured 
by  smoking,  have  sometimes  acquired,  by  keeping,  highly  deleterious  qualities,  which  in 

surface,  no  food  could  bo  gathered,  as  it  were,  in  their  cup  ;  and  if  exposed  by  the  retreating  tide,  the 
opening  of  the  &h  -11  would  allow  the  water  to  escape,  and  leave  them  dry — thus  depriving  them  of  res- 
piration as  well  as  food."  (Sir  Charles  Bell's  notes  to  Paley's  Natural  Tluotn^u,  vol.  ii  p.  -J'JO-l.)  The 
same  author  also  observes,  that  "  in  confirmation  of  these  remarks,  the  geologist,  when  he  sees  those 
shells  in  beds  of  diluvium,  can  determine  whether  the  oysters  were  overwhelmed  in  their  native  beds,  or 
were  rolled  away  and  scattered  as  shells  merely." 

*  Tmtlise  on  Diet.  t  Dr.  Christison,  Treatise  ci  Poisons. 

{  It  is  a  very  common  thing,  for  persons  to  he  p'>iMi;uvl  in  this  city  by  eating  mussels,  produced  from 
our  adjacent  waters.  In  one  instance  a  whole  family  were  made  dangerously  ill  by  them,  with  symptoms 
of  Cholera  Morbus,  of  the  most  malignant  kind,  of  which  the  lather  of  the  family  died.-  We  coukl  not 
ascertain  that  the  mussels  were  putrid,  or  affected  by  disease,  though  we  have  noticed  that  they  are  nore 
apt  to  produce  deleterious  effects  in  the  hottest  season  of  the  year.— L. 

$  Journal  dc  Pharmacic,  t.  xxvi.  p   113.  II  Appendix,  4. 

IT  Tiedemann,  Unterauchungen  ilber  das  Nahrungs-Bediirfniss.  &c.  pp.  119-120;  alscv  /xma.  Mcd.  Gazette, 
Oct.  81,  181-2. 


VEGETABLE  FOODS. 


143 


many  cases,  has  been  attended  with  fatal  results.  Buchner  ascribes  the  effects  to  the 
presence  of  a  peculiar  fatty  acid,  which  has  been  termed  botulinic  acid,  (Wurst-fett-saure.} 
Bacon,  probably  other  kinds  of  cured  meat,  Ham-pie,  Cheese,  Milk,  Goose-grease,  (see  p. 
128,)  Smoked  Sprats,  Pickled  Salmon,  Kipper  or  Smoked  Salmon,  see  p.  136,)  and  the  de- 
cayed flesh  of  quadrupeds  (as  veal  and  beef)  have  also  at  times  produced  effects 
analogous  to  those  caused  by  the  sausages  above  alluded  to.* 

The  cause  of  the  poisonous  quality  of  those  animal  foods  is  involved  in  complete  ob- 
scurity. Liebigf  has  offered  an  ingenious  but  gratuitous  hypothesis  concerning  it.  The 
sausages,  he  says,  are  in  a  peculiar  state  of  putrefaction  ;  and  in  this  condition  "  exercise 
an  action  upon  the  organism,  in  consequence  of  the  stomach,  and  other  parts  with  which 
they  come  in  contact,  not  having  the  power  to  arrest  their  decomposition  ;  and  entering 
the  blood  in  some  way  or  other,  while  still  possessing  their  whole  power,  they  impart 
their  peculiar  action  to  the  constituents  of  that  fluid. "J 

The  subject  of  fisli-poison\  has  been  already  noticed,  (see  pp.  135,  136,  139,  141,  and 
142.) 

SECT.  II.— VEGETABLE  FOODS. 

The  aliments  obtained  from  the  Vegetable  kingdom  greatly  exceed  in  number  and  va- 
riety those  procured  from  Animals ;  and  it  is  not  very  easy  to  adopt  a  classification 
which  shall  be  at  the  same  time  accurate  and  practical. 


*  For  further  details  consult  Dr.  Christison's  Treatise  on  Poisons ;  Tiedemann,  op.  at. ;  and  Buchner's 
Tokicologie. 

t  Chemistry  in  its  Application  to  Agriculture  and  Physiology,  pp  368-369.     2d  edit.  1842. 

1  Appendix,  5. 

§  In  connection  with  the  above  subject,  I  subjoin  the  following  table,  taken  from  the  Times  newspaper 
of  April  14,  1842  :— 

Annual  Return  of  Fish  seized  at  Billingsgate,  (being  unfit  to  be  used  as  human  food,)  from  the 
1st  of  January,  1841,  to  the  1st  of  January,  1842. 


Salmon 
Turbot  '     . 
Cod    . 
Haddocks  . 
Scale 
Gurnets 

136 
185 
.      1,295 
.   23,611 

237 
.      5,700 

Salt-fish 
Smelts 
Mullets 
Hallibuts 
Trout   . 
Lings  . 

86 
.    1,100 
61 
24 
.      224 
14 

Mackerel   . 
Soles 

.    39,520 
.     9790 

Dories 
Dried  Haddock 

13 
324 

.     7  372 

Roach  and  Dace 

300 

Plaice 
Herrings     . 

Whitings 

.   50,085 
.    27,720 
1  706 

Tench 
Pickled  Herrings 

82 
.   2,800 

Brills 

'.         222 
1  72,621* 

5,028 
172,629 

Sprats   . 
Pickled  Salmon 
Eels      . 
Winkles 
Whelks 
Mussels 

36  bushels 
3  kits. 
1,232  Ibs. 
50  bushels. 
38  bushels. 
22  bushels. 

Total 
Oysters 
Shrimps 
Lobsters 
Crabs   . 
Crawfish 

.    177,657 
51  bushels. 
12  bushels. 
2,819 
2,332 
122 

Total  number  of  Fish  seized  and  condemned: — 

In  tale        .  .  .            177,657 

Sprats         .  .  36  bushels. 

Pickled  Salmon  3  kits. 

Eels            .  .  1,232  Ibs. 

Shell-fish  in  tale  .       .       5,774 

Shell-fish           .  .  173  bushels. 


144  COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 


The  Natural-history  method  which  I  have  elsewhere*  adopted  for  the  Vegetable  and 
Animal  Materia  Medica,  and  which  I  have  followed  to  a  certain  extent  in  the  present 
work,  in  noticing  animal  aliments,  does  not  appear  to  me  to  be  sufficiently  practical,  for 
my  present  purpose,  to  be  exclusively  adopted.  Nor  can  we  adopt  a  chemical  classifica- 
tion, since  most  of  the  substances  which  we  have  to  notice  owe  their  dietetical  properties 
to  more  than  one  proximate  principle,  and  oftentimes  to  several. 

On  the  whole,  then,  I  believe  the  arrangement  of  Tiedemannf  to  be  the  most  appro- 
priate for  my  present  purpose,  and  I  shall  therefore  adopt  it  It  is  founded  partly  on 
Natural  History,  partly  on  the  Vegetable  organs  which  are  used  as  food.  The  following 
table  presents  a  general  view  of  the  classes  and  orders  : — 

CLASSIFICATION  OF  VEGETABLE  ALIMENTS. 

I.  Aliments  derived  from  Flowering  Plants. 


5.  Leaves,  Leaf-stalks,  and  Flowers. 

6.  Receptacles  and  Bracts. 

7.  Stems. 


1.  Seeds. 

2.  Fleshy  Fruits. 

3.  Roots,  Subterraneous  Stems,  and  Tubers. 

4.  Buds  and  Young  Shoots. 

II.  Aliments  derived  from  Flowerkss  Plants. 

1.  Ferns.  I          3.  Algse,  or  Sea-weeds. 

2.  Lichens.  |          4.  Fungi,  or  ."Mushrooms. 

CLASS  I.  ALIMENTS  DERIVED  FROM  FLOWERING  PLANTS. 

The  Flowering  Plants  are  also  called  by  botanists  Phenogamous  or  Vascular  plants. 
They  are  Phanerogamia,  the  Cotyledonecc,  or  Embryonattc  of  some  authors. 

ORDER  I.    SEMINA  OR  SEEDS. 

The  seeds  employed  as  food  are  of  two  kinds,  farinaceous  and  oleaginous. 

1.  MEALY  OR  FARINACEOUS  Seeds. — This  division  includes  the  alimentary  seeds  of  the 
Cerealia,  Polygonaceae,  Chenopodiaceae,  Leguminosae,  and  Cupuliferce. 

a.  Cereal  Grains  or  Corn. — These  are  the  seeds  of  certain  grasses,  which,  on  account 
of  their  comparatively  much  larger  size,  are  preferred,  for  dietetical  purposes,  to  other 
grass  seeds.  Those  commonly  employed  are  Wheat,  Oats,  Barley,  Rye,  Rice,  Maize  or 
Indian  Corn,  Millet,  and  Sorghum,  Durra  or  Guinea  Corn. 

The  fruit  of  the  grasses  is  one-seeded,  arid  is  called  a  caryopsis.  Its  endocarpium  ad- 
heres inseparably  to  the  integuments  of  the  seed.  The  seed,  exclusive  of  its  coo/s,  con- 
sists of  a  farinaceous  albumen,  on  the  outer  side  and  at  the  base  of  which  lies  the  embryo. 
In  a  dietetical  point  of  view  the  albumen  is  the  most  important  part  of  the  seed. 

The  proximate  constituents  of  the  Cereal  grains  are  as  follows  : — 

PROXIMATE  PRINCIPLES  OF  CORN. 

Starch. 

Vegetable  albumen. 

Vegetable  Fibrine.  } 

Glutine.  f          Raw  or 

Mucine.  i  Ordinary  Gluten. 

Oily  Matter. 

Sugar. 

Gum. 

Earthy  Phosphates. 

Ligneous  Matter,  (bran,  husk,  &c.) 

Water 

Elements  of  Materta  Medica 
t  Untersucnungen  uoer  das  Nahrungs-Bedurfniss,  den  Nahrungs-Trieb  und  die  Nahrungs-MiUel.     1836. 


WHEAT. 


145 


A  bitter  principle  and  resin  have  been  found  in  some  kinds  of  corn.  The  dietetical 
properties,  and  the  proportions,  of  the  alimentary  principles  found  in  corn  have  been 
already  stated. 

The  ultimate  composition  of  several  kinds  of  corn  is,  according  to  Boussingault,*  as 
follows : — 


ULTIMATE  COMPOSITION  OF  CORN  DRIED  AT  230°  F. 


Wheat. 

Rye. 

Oats. 

Carbon 

46-1 

46-2 

50-7 

Hydrogen    ..." 
Oxygen 

58 
43-4 

5-6 
44-2 

64 

36-7 

Nitrogen 

2-3 

1-7 

2-2 

Ashes           .... 

2-4 

2.3 

4-0 

Total     . 

100-0 

100-0 

100-0 

The  Cereal  grains  and  the  farinaceous  foods  obtained  therefrom,  are,  when  sufficiently 
and  plainly  cooked,  nutritive,  and  readily  digestible.  Their  nitrogenized  constituents,  or, 
in  the  language  of  Liebig,  their  plastic  elements  of  nutrition,  are  vegetable  albumen,  vege- 
table fibrine,  glutine,  and  mucine  ;  while  their  non-nitrogenized  constituents,  or  the  elements 
of  respiration,  are  starch,  (principally,)  sugar,  and  gum. 

The  following  table,  drawn  up  from  Dr.  Beaumont's  work,  shows  the  mean  time  of 
chymification  of  several  kinds  of  foods,  composed  wholly,  or  partially,  of  the  cereal 
grains : — 

DIGESTIBILITY  OF  THE  CEREAL  GRAINS. 


ARTICLES  OF  DIET. 

MEAN  TIME  OF  CHYMIFICATION. 

IN    ST*MACH. 

IN   PHIALS. 

Preparation. 

H.    M. 

Preparation. 

H.    M. 

Rice                                         • 
Barley  Soup 
Barley 
Cake,  Sponge 
Custard      . 
Dumpling,  App  e 
Cake,  Corn 
Bread,  Corn 
Bread,  Wheat,  fresh 

Boiled 
Boiled 
Boiled 
Baked 
Baked 
Boiled 
Baked 
Baked 
Baked 

1        0 
1      30 
2        0 
2      30 
2      45 
3        0 
3        0 
3      15 
3      30 

Broken 
Baked 

Masticated 

1 

i 

6      15 

6      30 

4      30 

1.  ~\^lieat. — The  grains  of  several  species  of  Triticum  are  employed  as  food  under  the 
name  of  wheat ;  viz.,  Triticum  vulgare,  turgidum,  polonicum,  Spelta,  and  monococcum.  In 
this  country,  the  first  species  is  that  which  is  principally  cultivated.  The  flour  obtained 
from  Lammas  Wheat  (Triticum  vulgare,  variety  Tiylernum)  has  the  following  compo- 
sition : — 

*  Memoires  de  P  Academic  Royale  des  Sciences  de  TInstitut  de  France,  t.  xviii.  p.  345.     1842. 


10 


146 


COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 


COMPOSITION  OF  WHEATEN  FLOUR. 


French 
Wheat. 

•asr 

Wheat. 

Odessa 
Soft 
Wheat. 

Ditto. 

Ditto. 

Flour  of 
Paris 
bakers. 

Ditto,  of  ^ood  QUA. 
ity  used  in  public 
establishments. 

Ditto 
inferior 
kind. 

Starch       . 
Gluten     . 
SniMr  .     . 
Gum    .    . 
Bran    .    . 
Wat.-r     .. 

71-49 

10-96 
472 
332 

10-00 

56-5 
14-55 
8-48 
4-90 
2-30 
12-00 

62-00 
12-00 
7-56 
5-80 
1-20 
10-00 

70-84 
12-10 
4-90 
4-60 

800 

72-00 
7-30 
5-42 
330 

12-00 

72-8 
10-2 
4-2 
2-8 

100 

71-2 

10-3 
4-8   ' 
36 

8-0 

67-78 
9-02 
4-80 
4-60 
2-00 
12-00 

100-49 

98-73 

93-56 

100-44 

100-02 

100-0 

97-9 

100-20 

The  quantity  of  gluten  contained  in  wheat  is  subject  to  very  considerable  variation,  as 
will  be  obvious  by  reference  to  the  table  at  p.  97.  "In  general,"  says  Sir  H.  Davy,* 
"  the  wheat  of  warm  climates  abounds  more  in  gluten  and  in  insoluble  parts ;  and  it  is 
of  greater  specific  gravity,  harder,  and  more  difficult  to  grind.  The  wheat  of  the  South 
of  Europe,  in  consequence  of  the  larger  quantity  of  gluten  it  contains,  is  peculiarly  fitted 
for  making  macaroni,  and  other  preparations  of  flour,  in  which  a  glutinous  quality  is 
considered  as  an  excellence." — "In  the  South  of  Europe,"  the  same  authority  adds, 
"hard  or  thin-skinned  wheat  is  in  higher  estimation  than  soft  or  thick-skinned  wheat; 
the  reason  of  which  is  obvious,  from  the  larger  quantity  of  gluten  and  nutritive  matter  it 
contains."! 

I  am  informed  oy  Mr.  Hards,  miller,  of  Dartford,  that  the  following  are  the  products 
obtained  by  grinding  one  quarter  or  eight  bushels  of  wheat : — 

PRODUCE  OF  ONE  QUARTER  OF  WHEAT  WEIGHING  504  POUNDS. 

Flour       ....  

Biscuit  or  fine  middlings 

Toppings  or  specks 

Best  pollard,  Turkey  pollard,  or  twenty-penny 

Fine  pollard  

Bran  and  coarse  pollard 

Loss,  sustained  by  evaporation,  and  waste  in  grinding,  dreusing,  ttec. 

~504lbs. 

Owing  to  the  larger  quantity  of  gluten  which  it  contains,  (see  p.  139,)  wheat  is 
more  nutritive  than  the  other  cereal  grains;  and  its  nutritive  equivalent,  founded  on 
the  quantity  of  its  nitrogen,  is,  therefore,  less  than  these,  (see  p.  27.)  It  yields  the  finest, 
whitest,  lightest,  and  most  digestible  kind  of  bread ;  the  greater  lightness  of  which  de- 
pends on  the  toughness  of  its  dough,  which,  retaining  the  evolved  carbonic  acid,  swells 
up  during  fermentation,  and  thus  acquires  a  vesicular  or  cellular  character.  This  light- 
ness or  sponginess  contributes  to  the  digestibility  of  bread ;  since  the  gastric  juice  more 
easily  permeates  and  acts  on  it  when  it  has  this  loose  texture.J 

Semolina,  Soujee,  and  Mannacroup,  are  granular  preparations  of  wheat,  deprived  of 
bran.  A  manufacturer^  of  these  substances  informs  me  that  they  are  prepared  from  the 
best  Kentish  wheat.  They  possess  all  the  nutritive  qualities  of  wheat,  and  are  very 
agreeable,  light,  nutritive  articles  of  food,  well  fitted  for  invalids  and  children. 

Macaroni,  Vermicelli,  and  Cagliari  Paste,  are  prepared  from  wheat.  They  are  im- 
ported from  Genoa  and  Naples,  and  are  manufactured  in  London  by  Mr.  Walte/Levy, 
who  prepares  them  from  a  paste  made  from  semolina.  Macaroni  and  vermicelli  have 


*  Elements  of  Agricultural  Chemistry,  pp.  130-131.    4th  ed.    1827 
t  Ibid.  pp.  138-9.  J  Appendix.  6. 

§  Mr.  Walter  Levy,  of  No.  2,  White's  Row,  Spitalields,  London 


FERMENTED  BREAD.  147 


their  well-known  forms  given  to  them  by  forcing  the  tenacious  paste  through  a  number 
of  holes  in  a  metallic  plate.  Three  varieties  of  macaroni  are  kept  in  the  shops,  the  pipe, 
the  cekry,  and  the  ribbon  macaroni.  The  Cagliari  paste  is  sold  in  the  form  of  stars,  rings, 
fleurs  de  lis,  Maltese  crosses,  &c»  The  nutritive  qualities  of  all  these  preparations  are 
identical  with  those  of  wheat ;  and  when  plainly  cooked,  as  by  boiling,  they  are  easily 
digestible.  Boiled  in  beef-tea,  they  form  a  nutritious  kind  of  soup  (Macaroni  or  Vermi- 
celli Soup)  for  invalids.  Or  they  may  be  made  into  puddings.  Dr.  A.  T.  Thomson* 
gives  the  following  directions  for  the  preparation  of  Macaroni  or  Vermicelli  Pudding : — 
"  Take  two  ounces  of  macaroni  or  vermicelli,  a  pint  of  milk,  and  two  fluid  ounces  (four 
table-spoonfuls)  of  cinnamon  water ;  simmer  until  the  macaroni  or  vermicelli  is  tender. 
Next,  beat  up  three  yolks  of  eggs  and  the  white  of  one  egg,  one  ounce  of  sugar,  one  drop 
of  the  oil  of  bitter  almonds,  and  a  glass  of  raisin  wine,  in  half  a  pint  of  milk  ;  and  add  the 
mixture  to  the  macaroni  or  vermicelli.  Bake  in  a  slow  oven." 

Some  of  the  powders  sold  under  the  name  of  Farinaceous  Foods  for  infantsf  consist 
wholly  or  partially  of  wheaten  flour,  with  which,  therefore,  they  agree  in  nutritive  qual- 
ities. Hards's  Farinaceous  Food  is  prepared,  as  Mr.  Hards  positively  assures  me,  from 
the  finest  wheat  only.  Judging  from  its  color,  smell,  and  microscopic  ?t)pearance,  it  must 
have  been  submitted  to  some  heating  process  (baking])  by  which  i,te  properties  are 
modified.  It  is  a  deserredly  esteemed  aliment  for  infants.  Denshani's  Farinaceous  Food 
is  a  mixture  of  three  parts  wheat-flour  anH  one  part  barley-meal.}:  It  is  an  excellent 
preparation, 

Bread  is  the  most  important  article  of  food  prepared  from  the  flour  or  meal  of  wheat. 
It  is  of  two  kinds;  fermented  or  leavened,  a^d  unfermented  or  unleavened. 

a.  Fermented  or  Leavened  Wheat-Bread. — This  is  the  ordinary  Loaf  Bread.  Wheaten 
flour,  salt,  water,  and  either  yeast$  or  leaven  (old  dough  already  in  a  state  of  fermenta- 
tion) are  the  ingredients  from  which  it  is  prepared.  Bakers  generally  employ,  in  addition, 
potatoes  and  alum.  The  yeast  or  leaven  causes  the  sugar  of  the  flour  to  undergo  the 
vinous  fermentation,  by  which  carbonic  acid  gas  and  alcohol||  are  formed.  It  is  not  im- 

*  The  Domestic  Management  of  the  Sick-Room. 

t  Bright's  Nutritious  Farina  is  Potato-starch,  (see  Potatoes.) 

\  Mr.  Hooper,  chemist,  of  Pall  Mall,  who  prepares  Densham's  farinaceous  food,  has  kindly  furnished 
me  with  the  method  of  preparing  it :  Three  parts  of  the  best  wheat-flour  and  one  part  of  the  best  barley- 
meal  are  intimately  mixed,  and  the  mixture  being  placed  in  tins  lined  with  paper,  is  submitted  to  a 
heat  of  about  200°  F.  in  a  baker's  oven,  for  three  hours.  The  time  generally  chosen  is  between  ten 
o'clock  A.  M.  and  two  o'clock  P.  M.,  when  the  oven  has  cooled  considerably.  The  mixture  should 
not  be  browned  by  the  process,  as  it  then  acquires  a  pea-flavor.  It  acquires  by  heating  an  improved 
flavor.  In  this  state  it  keeps  well,  without  becoming  sour  or  musty,  and  makes  excellent  puddings. 

The  barley  used  in  preparing  this  food  is  intended  to  prevent  the  supposed  constipating  effects  of 
the  wheat. 

§  Ale  and  table-beer  yeast  answer  perfectly  well.  An  artificial  yeast,  prepared  by  fermenting  a  wort 
made  of  malt,  is  sometimes  employed.  Lately,  German  yeast  has  been  extensively  used.  It  is  a 
friable  soft  solid,  which,  when  examined  by  the  microscope,  appears  to  consist  wholly  of  yeast  globules, 
(Torula  Cerevisia:.)— [A  good  solid  yeast  may  be  made  by  boiling  three  ounces  of  hops  in  two  gallons 
of  water  down  to  a  quart ;  strain  it,  and  stir  in  a  quart  of  rye-meal  while  boiling  hot — cool  it,  and  add 
half  a  pint  of  good  yeast ;  after  it  has  risen  a  few  hours,  thicken  it  with  Indian  meal  stiff  enough  to  roll 
out  into  cakes,  half  an  inch  thick,  upon  a  board  ;  put  them  in  the  sun  and  air  for  a  few  days  to  dry — turn- 
ing them  frequently.  A  piece  of  this  cake  two  inches  square,  dissolved  in  warm  water,  and  thickened 
with  a  little  flour,  will  make  a  large  loaf  of  bread.  These  cakes,  if  rightly  made,  and  preserved  in  coarse 
cotton  bags,  in  a  cool  dry  place,  will  keep  a  year,  and  are  very  convenient  when  fresh  yeast  is  not  to 
be  obtained. — L.] 

||  The  alcohol  is  dissipated  by  the  heat  of  the  oven.  A  few  years  ago  a  patent  was  taken  out  by  Mr. 
Hicks  for  collecting  the  alcohol  during  the  baking  process ;  and  above  £20,000  were  expended  in  the 


148  COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 

probable  that  the  fermentation  is  promoted  by  the  starch,  a  proportion  of  which  may, 
perhaps,  yield  an  additional  quantity  of  sugar.  The  carbonic  acid  is  prevented  from 
escaping  by  the  tenacity  of  the  dough,  which,  becoming  distended  with  gas,  swells  up 
and  acquires  a  vesicular  texture,  forming  a  kind  of  spongy  mass.*  In  this  way,  therefore, 
are  produced  the  vesicles  or  eyes  which  give  to  ordinary  loaf-bread  its  well-known  light- 
ness and  elasticity.  In  well-baked  bread  these  vesicles  are  stratified  in  layers  which  are 
perpendicular  to  the  crust;  forming  thus  what  bakers  termed  piled  or  flaky  bread.  The 
tenacity  of  the  dough,  on  which  the  vesicular  structure  of  the  bread  depends,  is  owing 
to  the  gluten. 

If  the  vinous  fermentation  be  not  checked  in  due  time  by  baking,  the  dough  becomes 
sour,  owing,  probably,  to  the  formation  of  both  acetic  and  lactic  acids. 

On  weighing  bread,  when  taken  from  the  oven,  it  is  found  to  be  from  28  to  34  per  cent, 
heavier  than  the  flour  used  in  its  preparation.  "In  the  formation  of  wheaten  bread," 
says  Sir  H.  Davy,f  "  more  than  one-quarter  of  the  elements  of  water  combine  with  the 
flour ;  more  water  is  consolidated  in  the  formation  of  bread  from  barley,  and  still  more  in 
that  from  oats;  but  the  gluten  in  wheat  being  in  much  larger  quantity  than  in  other  grain, 
seems  to  form  a  combination  with  the  starch  and  water,  which  renders  wheaten  bread 
more  digestible  than  other  species  of  bread." 

The  common  salt  used  in  bread-making  serves  principally  to  flavor ;  but  it  also  im- 
proves the  color  of,  and  gives  stiffness  to,  th8  dough. 

Notwithstanding  that  the  law  prohibits,  under  a  penalty,  the  use  of  alum  by  bakers,  it 
is  very  frequently  employed  under  the  name  of  "stuff."  It  augments  the  whiteness  and 
firmness  of  bread  made  from  inferior  kinds  j>f  flour,  and,  by  the  latter  effect,  renders  the 
bread  less  liable  to  crumble  when  cut,  while  it  enables  the  baker  to  separate  the  loaves 
more  readily  after  their  removal  from  the  oven.  Whatever  doubts  may  be  entertained  as 
to  the  ill  effects  of  alum  on  the  healthy  stomach,  none  can  exist  as  to  its  injurious  influ- 
ence in  cases  of  dyspepsia.  Bread  which  contains  alum  is  objectionable,  not  merely  on 
account  of  its  containing  this  salt,  but  because  it  is  generally  made  from  inferior  flour, 
which,  when  mixed  with  yeast  and  water,  and  formed  into  dough,  quickly  passes  through 
the  stage  of  vinous  fermentation,  and  becomes  acid.J 

Potatoes  die  very  commonly  used  in  bread-making.     They  assist  fermentation  in  the 

establishment  of  a  manufactory  for  bread  and  spirit ;  but,  as  a  commercial  speculation,  the  scheme 
failed.  The  bread  prepared  under  the  patent  was  baked  in  pans,  and  was  generally  considered  to  be 
less  agreeable  than  the  ordinary  loaf-bread.— [Mr.  Hicks,  who  is  a  very  scientific  man,  and  excellent 
surgeon,  informed  the  Editor  that  his  plan  of  collecting  the  spirit  from  bread,  during  the  process  of 
baking,  succeeded  perfectly ;  but  that  the  other  London  bakers  circulated  so  many  false  reports  re- 
specting his  bread,  that  the  people  could  not  be  persuaded  to  purchase  it.  One  was,  that  Mr.  Ilicks 
extracted  all  the  spirit  from  his  bread  by  a  patent  process ;  whereas,  theirs  contained  the  whole,  and 
of  course  was  far  more  nourishing  and  wholesome  !  "This  it  was,"  said  Mr.  H.,  "  that  blew  off  the 
cap  of  my  still,  and  caused  the  whole  concern  to  explode." — L.] 

*  In  the  ordinary  mode  of  bread-making,  the  baker  mixes  together  water,  a  little  flour,  yeast,  and 
potatoes,  and  sets  the  mixture  aside  for  six  or  eight  hours,  to  undergo  fermentation.  The  fermented 
mixture  is,  "in  the  language  of  the  bakehouse,  the  sponge;  its  formation  and  abandonment  to  spon- 
taneous decomposition  is  termed  setting  the  sponge ;  and  according  to  the  relation  which  the  amount 
of  water  in  the  sponge  bears  to  the  whole  quantity  to  be  used  in  the  dough,  it  is  called  quarter,  half,  or 
rvhole  sponge."  (Dr.  Colquhoun,  Annals  of  Philosophy,  N.  S.  vol.  xii.  p.  165.  1826.) 

t  Elements  of  Agi-icultural  Chemistry,  4th  ed.  p.  127.    1827. 

j  Alum  is  used  to  some  extent  by  bakers  in  this  country,  but  not  generally,  we  believe.  Mr.  Allison 
states  (On  Culinary  Poisons,  p.  132)  that  without  the  addition  of  alum,  it  does  not  appear  possible  to 
make  white,  light,  and  porous  bread,  such  as  is  used  in  London,  unless  the  flour  be  of  the  very  best  quality. 
When  bread  contains  alum,  it  may  be  detected  as  follows:  mix  the  crumbs  of  stale  bread  in  water, 


FERMENTED  BREAD.  149 


manufacture  of  bread,  and  render  the  product  lighter.     As  they  contain  less  gluten,  they 
are,  of  course,  less  nutritive  than  wheat  flour;  but  in  other  respects  their  use  is  unobjec- 
tionable., and  the  law  imposes  no  penalty  on  the  baker  for  employing  them. 
The  following  is  Vogel's  analysis  of  wheaten  bread  :— » 

COMPOSITION  OF  100  PARTS  OF  WHEATEN  BREAD,  (MADE  WITH  WHEAT-FLOUR, 
DISTILLED  WATER,  AND  YEAST,  BUT  WITHOUT  SALT.) 

Starch .  53  5 

Torre  lied  or  gummy  starch       ....  18'0 

Sugar 3'6 

Gluten  combined  with  a  little  starch        .        .  2075 

9585 

Exclusive  of  carbonic  acid,  chloride  of  calcium,  and  chloride  of  magnesium. 

From  this  it  appears  that  a  portion  of  the  starch  is  gummified  (converted  into  dextrine) 
by  the  process  of  panification.  Moreover,  as  the  quantity  of  sugar  in  the  baked  loaf  is 
nearly  equal  to  that  of  the  flour,  it  is  probable  that  a  certain  portion  of  saccharine  matter 
is  formed  at  the  expense  of  the  starch.  The  gluten  does  not  appear  to  have  suffered 
much  change  in  its  amount ;  but  in  some  of  its  qualities  (tenacity  and  elasticity)  it  has 
undergone  considerable  alteration.  If  a  piece  of  bread  be  "  placed  in  a  lukewarm  decoc- 
tion of  malt,  the  starch  and  the  substance  called  dextrine  are  seen  to  dissolve  like  sugar 
in  water,  and,  at  last,  nothing  remains  exce.pt  the  gluten,  in  the  form  of  a  spongy  mass, 
the  minute  pores  of  which  can  be  seen  only  by  a  microscope."* 

Liebigf  states  that  100  parts  of  fresh  bread  contain,  on  an  average,  30-15  parts  of  car- 
bon :  and  though  this  statement  is  meant  to  apply  to  rye-bread,  (Schivartzbrod  or  black 
bread,)  it  is  probably  equally  applicable  to  wheaten  bread. 

Notwithstanding  that  bread  is  denominated  the  staff  of  life,  alone  it  does  not  appear  to 
be  capable  of  supporting  prolonged  human  existence.  BoussingaultJ  came  to  this  con- 
clusion from  observing  the  small  quantity  of  nitrogen  which  it  contains  ;  and  the  Reports 
of  the  Inspectors  of  Prisons,  on  the  effects  of  a  diet  of  bread  and  water,  favor  this  notion. 

The  fine  bread  prepared  from  flour  only  is  the  most  nutritive  and  digestible.  Brown 
bread,  made  from  wheaten  meal,  which  contains  bran,  is  laxative,  as  I  have  already  stated, 
(see  p.  68,)  and  is  used  by  persons  troubled  with  habitual  constipation,  as  well  as  by  those 
laboring  under  diabetes.^  Hot  rolls  are  indigestible,  and  unfit  for  dyspeptics  and  invalids. 
Indeed,  all  kinds  of  new  bread  are  injurious.  Rolls,  both  English  and  French,  are  made 

squeeze  the  pasty  mass  through  a  piece  of  cloth,  and  then  pass  the  liquor  through  a  filter  paper;  the 
limpid  infusion  resulting,  will,  if  it  contain  alum,  exhibit  a  white  cloud,  more  or  less  dense,  on  adding 
to  it  a  dilute  solution  of  the  muriate  ofbarytes — (Ure.) — L. 

*  Liebig's  Chemistry  in  its  Application  to  Agriculture  and  Physiology,  2d  ed.  pp.  38,  39.     1842. 

t  Animal  Chemistry,  p.  237.  t  Arm.  de  Chim.  et.  Phys.  t.  Ixviii. 

$  Brown  or  Dyspepsia  bread,  erroneously  called  Graham  bread,  is  highly  useful  ;n  cases  of  habitual 
cosiiveness,  and  for  most  persons  of  sedentary  habits.  It  may  be  used  in  every  family  with  advantage, 
but  never  to  the  exclusion  of  fine  bread.  Much  of  the  bread  sold  as  dyspepsia  bread  in  our  cities,  is  made 
of  the  Iran  or  middlings  from  which  the  fine  flour  has  been  separated  ;  it  is  a  popular  notion  that  «aw- 
dusl  is  sometimes  mixed  with  the  meal.  The  coarse  and  harsh  particles  should  be  previously  sepsuatea 
by  puling  the  flour  through  a  common  hair  sieve. 

Good  bread  may  be  made  by  taking  six  quarts  of  this  wheat  meal  thus  prepared,  one  tea-cup  of  yeast, 
and  half  a  tea-cup  of  molasses  ;  mix  these  with  a  pint  of  milk- warm  water  and  a  tea-spoonful  of  pearl- 
ash  or  pal  seratus;  make  a  hole  in  the  flour,  and  stir  this  mixture  in  the  middle  of  the  meal  till  it  is 
like  batter ;  make  the  dough,  when  sufficiently  fermented,  into  four  loaves,  which  will  weigh  two  pound* 
per  loaf  when  baked.  It  requires  a  hotter  oven  than  fine  flour  bread,  and  must  bake  about  an  hour  and 
a  half— L. 


150  COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 


with  a  much  larger  proportion  of  yeast  than  is  employed  for  ordinary  bread.  The  dif- 
ferent kinds  of  fancy  breads  are  less  adapted  for  the  use  of  invalids  and  of  those  who  suf- 
fer with  a  tender  stomach,  than  the  common  loaf-bread.  Bread  which  has  been  submit- 
ted to  compression  by  the  hydraulic  press  becomes  dry  and  hard,  and  may  be  kept  for  an 
almost  indefinite  period.  When  used,  this  compressed  bread  requires  to  be  granulated  like 
semolina.* 

Very  recently,  Bourchardatf  has  suggested  the  use  of  what  he  calls  gluten  bread,  by 
diabetic  patients.  It  is  bread  made  of  wheat  dough  deprived  of  the  chief  portion  of  its 
starch.  It  is  impossible  to  eat  bread  made  of  gluten  only,  on  account  of  its  hardness  and 
toughness.  Hence  one  fifth  of  the  normal  quantity  of  starch  is  allowed  to  remain  in ; 
and  in  this  form  the  bread  is  tolerably  light,  edible,  and  moderately  agreeable.J  But 
though  the  substitution  of  this  bread  for  ordinary  loaf-bread  is  attended  with  a  diminu- 
tion of  the  quantity  of  sugar  contained  in  the  urine,  yet  the  remedy  is  a  mere  palliative, 
and  has  no  curative  tendency.  I  have  tried  it  in  one  case  only,  and  that  for  about  ten 
days,  when  the  patient  (a  medical  man)  finding  himself  not  improved  by  it,  ceased  its  u.-e. 
In  a  case  related  by  Dr.  Budd,$  the  general  symptoms  of  diabetes  appeared  to  be  relieved 
by  its  use.|| 

Rusks  and  Tops  and  Bottoms  belong  to  the  class  of  fermented  breads.  Both  are  made 
with  wheat  flour,  butter,  sugar,  milk,  and  a  considerable  quantity  of  yeast,  to  give  them 
lightness.  Notwithstanding  that  they  are  frequently  employed  as  infants'  food,  it  is  ob- 
vious that  they  are  objectionable,  on  the  double  ground  of  containing  butter  and  of  being 
fermented. 

ft.  Unfermented  or  unleavened  bread. — There  are  two  principal  kinds  of  unfermented 
bread,  the  one  heavy  and  compact,  the  other  light  and  elastic. 

Of  the  heavy  and  compact  unfermented  bread  we  have  an  excellent  example  in  the  com- 
mon sea-biscuit,  called  ship-bread,  which  is  hard,  compact,  heavy,  and  difficult  either  to 
cut  or  chew.  That  made  at  the  Government  Victualling  Establishment  at  Weevil,  near 
Portsmouth,  is  composed  of  wheaten  meal  (containing  a  certain  portion  of  bran)  and 
water  only.  It  must  be  very  obvious  that  this  very  cohesive,  firm,  and  compact  bread, 
must  be  slowly  digested,  as  the  gastric  juice  cannot  so  speedily  and  readily  permeate  it 
as  the  light  and  elastic  kinds  of  bread.  It  requires,  therefore,  a  very  perfect  mastication 
and  insalivation. 

Notwithstanding  this  objection,  biscuit  sometimes  agrees  better  with  the  dyspeptic  than 
fermented  bread.  In  such  cases  the  biscuits  prepared  by  Mr.  Dodson,  on  the  patent  un- 
fermented principle,  deserve  a  trial.  Biscuit  powder  is  frequently  used  for  infants'  food, 
and  is,  of  course,  free  from  the  objection  raised  to  the  whole  biscuit ;  the  cohesiveness  of 
which  has  been  overcome  by  grinding.  It  is  generally  prepared  for  use  by  the  aid  of  hot 
water,  which  likewise  tends  to  obviate  the  foregoing  objec\  on.  It  is  greatly  superk  r  to 
rusks  and  to  tops  and  bottoms. 

The  Captains'  biscuits  sold  in  the  shops  are  professedly  unfermented,  and  made  of 
wheaten  flour  and  water,  with  a  small  portion  of  butter.  Milk  is  sometimes  used  instead 
of  water.  It  is  reported  that  some  biscuit-bakers  employ  a  little  yeast,  to  render  the  pro- 
duct somewhat  less  dense.  The  meal  biscuit  is  prepared  with  wheaten  meal,  which  con- 


*  See  Laignel,  Camples  Rendus,  1841,  l*r  Sem.  p.  25. 

t  Camples  Rendus,  Nov.  1841,  p.  942. 

t  Gluten  bread  is  prepared  and  sold  by  Mr.  Bullock,  chemist,  of  Conduit-street,  London. 

§  Lond.  Medical  Gazette,  April  22,  1842. 

II  See  Appendix,  7. 


UNFERMENTED  BREAD.  151 


tains  a  portion  of  bran.  The  common  buttered  biscuit  is  rendered  somewhat  light  by  a 
little  yeast ;  and  contains  a?  iffi!  name  indicates,  butter.  Abernethy's  biscuits  are  variously 
made  by  different  bakers :  yeast  is  generally  used  in  their  preparation.  They  contain 
caraway-seeds.  The  small  square  York  biscuit  is  prepared  with  wheaten  flour,  butter, 
milk,  and  sugar,  but  without  yeast.  Of  course  those  biscuits  which  contain  butter*  are 
more  objectionable  for  dyspeptics  than  plain  biscuits. 

Of  the  light  and  elastic  (spongy)  unfermented  breads,  there  are  several  kinds.  They  owe 
their  lightness  to  a  cellular  or  vesicular  texture  (similar  to  that  of  ordinary  fermented 
bread)  produced  by  a  gaseous  or  volatile  body,  not  developed  by  fermentation,  but  other- 
wise set  free  in  the  dough,  and,  being  expanded  by  the  heat  of  the  oven,  distends  the 
dough.  The  Patent  Unfermented  Bread  obtains  its  lightness  from  carbonic  acid  developed 
within  the  dough  by  the  action  of  hydrochloric  (muriatic)  acid,  sometimes  called  spirits 
of  salts,  on  the  sesquicarbonate  of  soda.  Gingerbread  is  also  rendered  light  by  carbonic 
acid  gas ;  but  the  latter  is  obtained  by  the  mutual  action  which  takes  place  between  car- 
bonate of  potash  and  treacle.f  I  have  tasted  some  excellent  Gingerbread  and  Ginger- 
bread Nuts  made  by  Mr.  Dodson,  by  the  patent  unfermented  process,  without  either  alum 
or  potashes.  Several  kinds  of  light  biscuits  owe  their  lightness  to  sesquicarbonate  of  am- 
monia (volatile  or  smelling  salts)  which  is  dissolved  in  the  water  used  in  the  formation  of 
the  dough.  In  the  oven,  the  heat  converts  the  ammoniacal  salt  into  vapor,  which  dis- 
tends the  dough.  When  the  whole  salt  has  been  nearly  evaporated,  the  texture  of  the 
dough  has  become  sufficiently  stiff  and  dry  to  prevent  the  mass  shrinking  to  its  former 
dimensions.  Biscuits  thus  prepared  are  porous,  but  have  not  the  piled  texture  of  ordi- 
nary fermented  bread.  As  examples  of  unfermented  biscuits,  in  the  manufacture  of 
which  sesquicarbonate  of  ammonia  is  used,  I  may  mention  Cracknells,  and  the  Victoria 
and  Clarence  Biscuits.  Cracknells  are  prepared  with  wheaten  flour,  a  small  quantity  of 
sugar,  a  little  milk,  butter,  eggs,  and  the  sesquicarbonate  of  ammonia.  The  curl  of  the 
oak-leaved  cracknells  is  produced  by  the  latter  salt.  The  Victoria  Biscuit  contains,  be- 
sides the  smelling  salt,  flour,  eggs,  sugar,  milk,  and  buiter.  The  Clarence  Biscuit  con- 
tains some  eggs,  and  a  few  caraway  seeds. 

The  Patent  Unfermented  Bread  deserves  a  more  extended  notice.  Many  years  since  it 
was  stated  in  the  Supplement  to  the  Encyclopaedia  Britannica,  (art.  Baking,)  that  if,  in- 
stead of  the  ordinary  dose  of  common  salt  being  mixed  with  the  dough  in  the  usual  way, 
we  substitute  carbonate  of  soda  and  muriatic  acid  in  due  proportion,  and  knead  them  as 
rapidly  as  possible  with  the  dough,  it  will  rise  immediately,  fully  as  much,  if  not  more, 


*  The  difficult  digestibility  of  butter,  and  its  injurious  effects  on  dyspeptics,  have  been  alretdy  al- 
luded to,  (see  pp.  83-83.) 

T  The  ingredients  used  in  the  manufacture  of  gingerbread  are  flour,  treacle,  butter,  common  potashes, 
and  alum.  "  After  the  butter  is  melted,  and  the  potashes  and  alum  are  dissolved  in  a  little  warm  water, 
these  three  ingredients,  along  with  the  treacle,  are  poured  among  the  flour  which  is  to  form  the  basis  of 
the  bread.  The  whole  is  then  thoroughly  incorporated  together,  by  mixture  and  kneading,  into  a  stiff 
dough."  This  dough,  "  however  thoroughly  kneaded,  almost  invariably  requires  to  stand  over  for  the 
space  of  from  three  or  four  to  eight  or  ten  days,  before  it  arrives  at  that  state  which  is  be.~t  adapted  for 
its  rising  to  the  fullest  extent,  and  becoming  duly  gasified  in  the  oven."  The  alum  is  the  least  essential 
ingredient;  "although  it  is  useful  in  having  a  decided  tendency  to  make  the  bread  lignter  and  crisper, 
and  in  accelerating  the  tardy  period  at  which  the  dongh  is  in  the  most  advantageous  condition  for  being 
baked."  (Dr.  Colquhoun,  Annals  of  Philosophy,  N.  S.  vol.  xii.  p.  271.  1826.) 

Treacle  contains  free  glucic  and  melassic  acids,  which,  by  their  action  on  the  carbonate  of  potash,  set 
carbonic  acfdfree.  It  is  not  improbable  that,  during  the  rising  of  the  gingerbread  dough,  more  glucic 
acid  may  be  formed  by  the  action  of  the  potashes  on  the  saccharine  matter. 


152  COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 


than  dough  mixed  with  yeast,  and,  when  baked,  will  constitute  a  very  light  and  excellent 
bf  ?ad. 

By  the  mutual  action  of  the  muriatic  acid  and  carbonate  of  soda  we  obtain  common 
salt,  (chloride  of  sodium,)  water,  and  carbonic  acid  gas.  The  latter  ingredient  being  set 
free  distends  the  dough  and  gives  it  a  vesicular  character.  In  this  way  the  bread  is  ren- 
dered light  without  the  destruction  of  any  of  the  nutritive  ingredients  of  the  flour  ;  and 
without  the  risk  of  the  production  of  acetous  fermentation,  or  of  the  decomposition  of 
the  gluten.  Dr.  Colquhoun  tried  this  plan  ;  and  though  he  used  an  unnecessarily  large 
quantity  of  the  carbonate  and  acid,  the  bread  which  he  obtained  proved,  as  he 
"doughy  and  sad,  possessed  but  a  few  diminutive  vesicles,  and  was  never  piled."  Hi.s 
failure  arose,  I  suspect,  from  setting  aside  the  dough  for  twenty  minutes  before  putting  it 
in  the  oven  ;  whereas  it  cannot  be  too  quickly  heated. 

In  1836,  Dr.  Whiting*  took  out  a  patent  for  rendering  bread,  cakes,  light  biscuits,  and 
such  like  farinaceous  foods,  cellular,  light  (spongy,)  without  the  aid  of  fermentation.  His 
process  is  essentially  that  just  described.  The  proportions  of  the  ingredients  which  he 
directs  to  be  used  are  as  follows : — 

Wheaten  Flour  ....        7  Ibs. 
Carbonate  of  soda       ...     350  grs.  to  500  gre. 

Water 21  pints. 

Muriatic  acid      .        .        .    from  420  to  560,  or  a«  much  as  may  be  sufficient. 

Mr.  Dodson,  of  93  Blackman-street,  Southwark,  London,  having  purchased  the  patent 
of  Dr.  Whiting,  prepares  bread,  (white  and  brown,)  biscuits,  biscuit-powder,  and  cakes, 
according  to  the  unfermented  process.  The  bread  appears  to  me  to  be  made  of  excellent 
flour,  and  though  it  is  scarcely  so  light  as  the  ordinary  loaf-bread,  its  flavor  is  very  agree- 
able. It  resembles  home-made  bread  rather  than  bakers*  bread,  and  keeps  well  without 
becoming  sour  or  mouldy.  I  greatly  prefer  the  brown  to  the  white  unfermented  bread. 

A  most  delicious  unfermented  bread,  equal  in  lightness  to  any  bread  prepared  by  the 
fermented  process,  was  made,  in  my  presence,  by  the  cook  of  Mr.  John  Savory,  of  New 
Bond-street,  London,  according  to  the  following  formula:! — 

Flour,  1  Ib. 

Sesquicarbonate  of  soda,  40  grains. 

Cold  \\:iic  r,  half  a  pint,  or  as  much  as  may  be  sufficient 

Muriatic  acid  of  the  shops,  50  minims  [drops.] 

Powdered  white  sugar,  a  tea-spoonlul. 

Intimately  mix  the  sesquicarbonate  of  soda  and  the  sugar  with  the  flour,  in  a  large 
basin,  by  means  of  a  wooden  spoon.  Then  gradually  add  the  water,  with  which  the  acid 
has  been  previously  mixed,  stirring  constantly,  so  as  to  form  an  intimate  mixture  very 
speedily.  Divide  into  two  loaves,  and  put  into  a  quick  oven  immediately.  If  any  soda 
should  escape  the  action  of  the  acid  it  causes  a  yellow  spot,  which,  however,  is  more  un- 
sightly than  detrimental.  The  sugar  can  be  omitted  if  thought  desirable. 

The  unfermented  bread  possesses  several  advantages,  besides  those  already  speci- 
fied, over  the  ordinary  fermented  bread.  In  its  manufacture  both  time  and  trouble 
are  saved ;  and  all  risk  of  vitiating  the  bread  by  the  use  of  inferior  yeast,  or  by 
carrying  the  fermentation  too  far,  is  thereby  avoided.  It  is  well  adapted  for  the  use  of 
invalids  and  dyspeptics,  with  whom  the  ordinary  fermented  bread  disagrees.  In  urinary 
maladies,  likewise,  it  deserves  a  trial.  In  its  porosity  and  lightness  it  is  superior  to  bis- 
cuits, (see  p.  150,)  since  it  is  more  speedily  permeated,  and  more  if  idily  acted  on,  by  the 
gastric  juice. 

*  Repertory  of  Patent  Inventions,  N.  S.  vol.  vii.  p.  267.     1837. 

t  This  formula  differs  somewhat  from  that  published  by  Mr.  Deane,  (Pharmaceutical  Journal,  vol.  i. 
p.  492,)  for  making  what  he  terms  "  Pharmaceutical  Bread." 


UNFERMENTED  BREAD.  153 


Mouldy  bread,  (that  is,  bread  covered  with  Mucor  Mucedo,  and  other  allied  fungi,)  has 
on  several  occasions  proved  injurious.*  Colic,  headache,  great  thirst,  dry  tongue,  fre- 
quent pulse,  and  stupor,  have  been  induced  by  it.  Wheat  is  liable  to  several  disorders,! 
produced  by  the  attack  of  certain  fungi  and  animals,  and  probably  in  these  states  is  more 
or  less  deleterious  to  health,  independent  of  losing,  partially  or  entirely,  its  nutritive 
qualities. 

Cakes,  of  which  the  Plum-cake  may  be  taken  as  the  type,  may  be  regarded  as  a  rich 
variety  of  bread  ;  though  in  common  parlance  they  are  considered  distinct  from  this. 
They  are  composed  of  wheaten  flour,  butter  or  lard,  eggs,  sugar,  raisins,  (the  larger  kind 
as  well  as  the  small  Corinthian  raisin,  popularly  called  the  currant,,)  frequently  almonds, 
&c.  They  form  a  most  indigestible  kind  of  food,  totally  unfit  for  children,  invalids,  and 
dyspeptics.  Their  indigestible  quality  is  principally  derived  from  the  butter  or  lard  which 
they  contain,  (see  p.  84.) 

Mr.  Dodson  prepares  cakes,  (plain,  currant,  sultana,  or  fig,)  by  the  unfermented  patent 
process,  without  butter.  They  are.  therefore,  free  from  the  objections  raised  to  ordinary 
cakes. 

The  action  of  heat  on  the  butter  or  lard  used  in  the  manufacture  of  pastry,  (baked  paste,) 
renders  this  compound  highly  injurious  to  the  dyspeptic,  who  should,  therefore,  most 
carefully  avoid  its  use.  "  All  pastry  is  an  abomination,"  justly  observes  Dr.  Paris.J  "  I 
verily  believe,"  he  adds,  "that  one  half,  at  least,  of  the  cases  of  indigestion  which  occur, 
after  dinner-parties,  may  be  traced  to  this  cause."  I  have  already  (p.  83-84)  pointed  out 
the  injurious  influence  of  heat  on  oily  and  fatty  substances,  especially  butter. 

The  same  authority  correctly  adds,  that  "  the  most  digestible  pudding  is  that  made  with 
bread,  or  biscuit  and  boiled  flour  :  batter  pudding  is  not  so  easily  digested  ;  and  suet  pud- 
ding is  to  be  considered  as  the  most  mischievous  to  invalids  in  the  whole  catalogue. 
Pancake  is  objectionable,  on  account  of  the  process  of  frying  imparting  a  greasiness,  to 
which  the  dyspeptic  stomach  is  not  often  reconciled."^ 

*  See  Chevallier's  paper  in  the  Journ.  de  Chim.  M&d.  t.  vii.  p.  122.  1831.  The  author  refers  to  Bar- 
rurel's  observations,  and  also  quotes  some  cases  published  by  Westerhoff  in  1826. 

t  The  Rev.  Professor  Henslow,  in  his  Report  on  the  Diseases  of  Wheat,  (published  in  the  Journal  of  the 
Royal  Agricultural  Society  of  England,  vol.  ii..)  states  that  he  has  examined  wheat  infested  by  five 
species  of  parasitic  fungi;  by  the  Ergot;  by  the  little  animalcule,  (Vibrio  Tritici,)  which  produces  the 
Earcockle,  Purple?,  or  Peppercorn  ;  and  the  fly  called  the  Wheat  Midge,  (Cecidomyia  Tritici.)  The  five 
fungi  referred  to  are  :  — 

1st.  The  Bunt,  Smut-balls,  or  Pepperbrand,  (Uredo  Canes,  De  Cand.  ;   Uredo  foetida,  Bauer.) 

2d.  The  Smut  or  Dust  Brand,  (Uredo  Segetum.) 

3dly  and  4thly.  The  Rust,  Red-rag.  Red-robin,  or  Red-gum,  (Uredo  rubigo  and  Uredo  linearis.) 

5thly.  The  Mildew,  (Puccinia  graminis.) 

Mr.  Quekett  and  others  have,  I  think,  satisfactorily  shown  the  Ergot  to  be  a  disease  induced  by  the 
attack  of  a  fungus,  which  Mr.  Quekett  has  denominated  the  Ergotcetia  abortifaciens  .  (See  Trans,  of  the 
Linn.  Society,  vol.  xviii.  ;  also  my  Elements  of  Materia  Medico,  vol.  ii.  p.  913,  2d  ed.) 

t  Treatise  on  Diet,  5th  ed 

$  Paste  Puddings  or  Dumplings  are  often  brought  on  our  tables,  but  they  are  extremely  indigestible, 

and  should  therefore  never  be  eaten  by  invalids.     It  is  doubtful  whether  there  is  any  way  of  boiling 

wheat  dough  so  as  to  render  it  fit  for  food  ;  it  will  always  be  crude  and  heavy,  and  impermeable  to  the 

!     gastric  juice.     Our  best  puddings  are  those  made  of  rice,  bread,  sago,  or  Indian  meal,  baked.     Boiled 

Indian  puddings  are  not  very  indigestble,  and  are  far  preferable  to  those  of  wheat.     In  preparing  pud- 

|     dings,  the  eggs   should  be  beat  very  light—  the  yolks  and  whites  apart;  the  flour  should  be  dried  and 

sifted  ;  if  currants  are  used,  they  must  be  carefully  washed  and  dried,  and  dusted  with  flour  before  being 

put  into  the  batter;  raisins  must  be  stoned  ;  sugar  dried  and  pounded  ;  spices  finely  ground  ;  and  all  the 

ingredients  thoroughly  mixed.     It  is  better  to  mix  the  pudding  an  hour  or  two  before  it  is  to  be  baked 

or  boiled.—  L. 


154 


COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 


The  following  is  a  formula  for  a  boiled  bread-pudding,  adapted  for  the  convalescent:* 
"(Jrate  half  a  pound  of  stale  bread,  pour  over  it  a  pint  of  hot  milk,  and  leave  the  mixture 
to  soak  for  an  hour  in  a  covered  basin  ;  then  beat  it  up  with  the  contents  of  two  eggs. 
Put  the  whole  into  a  covered  basin,  just  large  enough  to  hold  it,  which  must  be  tied  in  a 
cloth,  and  placed  in  boiling  water  for  half  an  hour.  It  may  be  eaten  with  salt  or  with 
sugar;  and,  if  wine  be  allowed,  it  may  be  flavored  with  sherry." 

Panada  is  prepared  as  follows : — Place  some  very  thin  slices  of  crumb  bread  in  a  sauce- 
pan, and  add  rather  more  water  than  will  cover  them.  Boil  until  the  bread  becomes 
pulpy,  then  strain  off  the  superfluous  water,  and  beat  up  the  bread  until  it  becomes  of  the 
consistence  of  gruel ;  then  add  white  sugar,  and,  when  permitted,  a  little  sherry  wine. 
This  forms  a  very  agreeable  aliment  for  the  sick. 

2.  Oats. — The  Oat  cultivated  in  England  is  the  Arena  sativa  or  Common  Oat.  When 
the  grains  are  deprived  of  their  integuments  they  are  called  groats  or  grits;  and  these, 
when  crushed,  are  denominated  Embden  groats,  and  when  ground  into  flour,  prepared 
groats.  Oatmeal  is  prepared  by  grinding  the  kiln-dried  seeds,  deprived  of  their  husk  and 
outer  skin.  It  is  not  so  white  as  wheaten  flour,  and  has  a  somewhat  bitterish  taste. 

The  following  is  the  composition  of  oats,  according  to  Vogel : — 

COMPOSITJON  OF  OATS. 


The  Entire  Seeds. 


Meal 
Husk 


34 

100 


Dried  Oatmeal. 

Starch    . 

Bitter  matter  and  sugar 
Gray  albuminous  matter 
Fatty  oil         ... 
Gum       .... 
Husk,  mixture,  and  loss 


59-00 
825 
430 
2-00 

10000 


But  oatmeal  yielded  Dr.  Christison  the  following  results  : — 
COMPOSITION  OF  OATMEAL. 

Starch         

Saccharo-mucilaginous  extract 

Albumen 

Oleo-resinous  matter 

Lignin  (bran)     .... 

Moisture 


72-8 
5-8 
3-2 
0-3 

11-3 
6-6 

100-0 


Oats  are  generally  considered  somewhat  less  nutritive  than  wheat.  But  from 
gault's  ultimate  analysis,  already  referred  to,  (see  p.  145,)  the  quantity  of  nitrogen  yielded  by 
them  is  nearly  equal  to  that  obtained  from  wheat ;  and,  accordingly,  the  nutritive  equivalent 
for  oats,  according  to  this  chemist,  differs  but  little  from  that  of  wheat,  (see  p.  28.)  Oat- 
meal,  says  Dr.  Cullen,f  "  is  especially  the  food  of  the  people  of  Scotland,  and  was  formerly 
that  of  the  northern  parts  of  England;  counties  which  have  always  produced  as  healthy 
and  as  vigorous  a  race  of  men  as  any  other  in  Europe." 

Oats  are  apt  to  disagree  with  some  dyspeptics;  or,  in  popular  language,  they  are  liable 
to  become  acescent  on  the  stomach. 

Unfermented  oaf-bread,  in  those  unaccustomed  to  it,  is  apt  to  occasion  dyspepsia,  with 
heartburn,  and  was  formerly  thought  to  have  a  tendency  to  produce  skin  diseases,  but 
without  just  grounds.  Gruel  is  a  mild,  nutritious,  and,  in  most  cases,  an  easily  digested 
article  of  food,  in  chronic  diseases,  and  in  the  convalescence  from  acute  maladies.  In 
some  irritable  conditions  of  the  stomach  it  is  occasionally  retained  when  many  other  foods 

*  See  Dr.  A.  T.  Thomson's  Domestic  Management  of  the  Sick-Room. 
f  Maleria  Medico,  vol.  i.,  p.  278. 


OATS.  155 


are  rejected.  Yet  it  is  less  demulcent  than  barley-water.  "  Unless  gruel  be  very  thin," 
says  Dr.  A.  T.  Thomson,  "  it  can  scarcely  be  regarded  as  a  diluent ;  and  when  thick,  it 
is  too  heating  an  aliment  for  patients  laboring  under  febrile  symptoms."  On  account  of 
the  nitrogenous  principle  which  it  contains,  it  is  of  course  more  nourishing  than  the 
starchy  preparations  (arrow-root,  tapioca,  sago,  &c.)  frequently  employed  in  the  sick- 
chamber.  It  is  prepared  from  either  groats  or  oatmeat"  It  may  be  sweetened,  acidulated 
with  a  little  lemon-juice,  or  aromatized  with  a  very  small  portion  of  some  spice.  Butter, 
which  is  frequently  added,  is  objectionable  in  dyspeptic  and  other  cases  where  the  stom- 
ach is  tender.* 

Oatmeal  Porridge  or  Stir-about  is  a  moderately  consistent  mixture,  composed  of  oat- 
meal and  water,  and  prepared  by  boiling.  It  is  sometimes  eaten  with  milk  as  a  moder- 
ately nutritive  diet.  When  mixed  with  the  thin  liquor  of  boiled  meat,  or  the  water  in 
which  cabbage  or  kale  has  been  boiled,  it  is  called  beef-brose  or  kale-brose. 

The  husk  and  some  adhering  starch  separated  from  oats  in  the  manufacture  of  oat- 
meal are  sold  in  Scotland  "under  the  inconsistent  name  of  Seeds." 'f  These,  "if  infused 
in  hot  water,  and  allowed  to  become  sourish  in  this  state,  yield,  on  expression,  a  muci- 
laginous liquid,  which,  on  being  sufficiently  concentrated,  forms  a  firm  jelly,  known  by  the 
name  of  Sowins."  Dr.  A.  T.  Thomson}:  gives  the  following  directions  for  the  preparation 
of  "  Flummery  or  Sowans :" — 

"  Take  a  quart  or  any  quantity  of  groats,  or  of  oatmeal ;  rub  the  groats  or  the  meal  for 
a  considerable  time  with  two  quarts  of  hot  water,  and  leave  the  mixture  for  several  days 
at  rest,  until  it  becomes  sour ;  then  add  another  quart  of  hot  water,  and  strain  through  a 
hair  sieve.  Leave  the  strained  fluid  at  rest  until  it  deposits  a  white  sediment,  which  is 
the  starch  of  the  oats  ;  lastly,  pour  off  the  supernatant  water,  and  wash  the  sediment  with 
cold  water.  The  washed  sediment  may  be  either  boiled  with  fresh  water,  stirring  the 
whole  time  it  is  boiling,  until  it  forms  a  mucilage  or  jelly,  or  it  may  be  dried,  and  after- 
wards prepared  in  the  same  manner  as  arrow-root  mucilage.^  Flummery  is  light,  mod- 
erately nutritious,  and  very  digestible ;  it  is,  consequently,  well  adapted  for  early  conva- 
lescence. It  may  be  eaten  with  milk  or  wine,  or  lemon-juice  and  sugar." 

"  A  diet  of  oats,"  says  Dr.  Christison,  "  has  the  credit  of  tending  to  keep  the  bowels 
open ;  and  I  have  seen  it  apparently  have  this  effect  in  several  instances  of  habitual  con- 
stipation, when  taken  at  breakfast  in  the  form  of  porridge.  In  cases  of  dyspepsia,  associ- 
ated with  acidity  of  stomach,  it  is  on  the  contrary  in  general  a  noxious  article  of  food  ; 
and  some  dyspeptics  among  the  working  classes  recover  entirely  on  abandoning  it  for  a 
time.  A  curious,  though  now  rare,  consequence  of  its  long  habitual  use  as  food,  is  the 
formation  of  intestinal  concretions  composed  of  phosphate  of  lime,  agglutinating  animal 
matter,  and  the  small,  stiff,  silky-like  bristles  which  may  be  seen  at  one  end  of  the  inner 
integument  of  the  oat-seed.  This  affection  must  have  been  common  in  Scotland  during 
the  last  century,  as  Dr.  Monro  Secundus  collected  forty-one  specimens,  still  in  the  ana- 
tomical museum  of  this  University.  But  it  is  now  far  less  frequent,  probably  in  conse- 

*  Oatmeal  gruel  is  not  much  used  in  this  country,  Indian  being  substituted  in  its  place.  "Water  gruel 
is  prepared  by  first  mixing  well  two  table-spoonfuls  of  oatmeal  with  six  of  cold  water  in  a  basin,  and 
then  addirfg  this  gradually  to  a  quart  of  boiling  water,  constantly  stirring  until  it  is  sufficiently  boiled, 
which  will  be  in  about  ten  minutes.  It  is  then  to  be  strained,  and,  if  it  is  desirable  to  have  it  clear,  it 
may  be  decanted  when  cold.  Sugar,  acids,  or  aromatics  may  be  employed  for  flavoring.  When  it  is 
desired  to  have  it  more  nutritive,  a  pint  of  boiling  milk  may  be  addec  to  a  pint  o>f  water  in  which  the 
oatmeal  has  been  previously  well  mixed,  then  proceed  as  before  — L. 

f  Dr.  Christison,  Dispensatory.  $  Domestic  Management  of  the  Sick- Room. 

§  "  Flummery  should  not  be  made  in  a  metallic  vessel." 


156 


COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 


quence  of  the  oats  being  more  thoroughly  cleared  of  their  investing  iren'branes  before 
being  ground  into  meal.  I  have  had  occasion  to  examine  one  specimen  only,  which  was 
removed  from  the  rectum  by  Mr.  Liston  in  a  case  of  recto- vesical  fistula."* 

3.  Barley. — Several  species  of  Barley  are  cultivated  in  England,  viz.  Hordeum  dis. 
tichan,  the  Common  Long-eared  Barley  ;  Hordeum  xulgare,  the  Spring  Barley ;  Hordeum 
hsxasluhon.  Winter  Barley  ;  and  Ttlordeum  Zeocitron,  Sprat  or  Battledore  Barley.  The 
grains,  when  deprived  of  their  husk  by  a  mill,  form  Scotch,  hulled,  or  pot  barley.  When 
all  the  integuments  of  the  grains  are  removed,  and  the  seeds  are  rounded  and  polished, 
they  constitute  pearl  barley.  The  farina  obtained  by  grinding  pearl  barley  to  powder  is 
called  patc.it  barley. 

The  following  is  the  composition  of  barley  according  to  Einhof : — 


COMPOSITION  OF  BARLEY. 


The  Ripe  Seeds. 


Meal 
Husk 
Moistu.  t 


70-05 
18-75 
11-20 

100-00 


Barley-meal. 

Starch  .... 

Fibrous  matter  (gluten,  starch,  > 
and  lignin)  ) 

Gum 
Sugar 
Gluten 
Albumen 
Phosphate  of  lime  with  albumen 
Moisture 
Loss 


67-18 
7-29 

462 
5-21 
352 
1-15 
024 
937 
1-42 

100-00 


The  husk  of  barley  is  slightly  acrid.  Deprived  of  this,  as  in  Scotch  and  pearl  barley 
the  seeds  are  highly  nutritious.  They  are  considered  to  be  more  laxative  than  the. other 
cereal  grains.  The  quantity  of  gluten  which  they  yield,  is,  however,  considerably  l*ss 
than  that  obtained  from  wheat,  (see  p.  97,)  and  as  they  contain  less  nitrogen,  their  nutri- 
tive equivalent  is  less  than  that  of  wheat,  (see  p.  27.)  Count  Rumford,f  however,  regarded 
barley-meal,  when  used  for  soup,  as  three  or  four  times  as  nutritious  as  vvheaten  flour. 
It  is  a  constituent  of  Densham' s  farinaceous  food,  (see  p.  147,)  being  used,  on  account  of 
its  laxative  operation,  to  counteract  the  supposed  constipating  effect  of  wheat  Barley 
bread  Is  somewhat  more  difficult  of  digestion  than  wheaten  bread.  Barley  icater  is  a  light, 
mild,  emollient  demulcent  liquid,  which  is  slightly  nutritive,  and  very  easy  of  dig 
It  forms  an  excellent  diluent  beverage  in  febrile  and  inflammatory  cases,  especially  mala- 
dies of  the  chest,  bowels,  and  urinary  organs.  It  is  prepared  as  follows : — Tak«'  two 
ounces  and  a  half  of  pearl  barley  ;  first  wash  away,  with  water,  the  foreign  matters  ad- 
hering to  the  seeds  ;  then  add  half  a  pint  of  water,  and  boil  for  a  little  while.  This 
liquid  being  then  thrown  away,  pour  on  them  four  pints  (imperial)  of  boiling  water ;  boil 

*  It  has  been  computed  that  there  are  623,000  persons,  consumers  of  oats  in  England  and  \Va|.»s. 
The  export  of  oats  from  Ireland,  chiefly  for  the  English  market,  was,  in  1825,  12,025,632  bushels,  and 
in  the  state  of  meal,  1,636,936  bushels.  In  France  about  90,000,000  of  bushels  are  produced  annually, 
of  which  25,000,000  of  bushels  are  used  by  the  inhabitants  for  food,  chiefly  in  the  southern  part  of  the 
kingdom.  Oats  yield,  on  an  average,  eight  pounds  of  meal  for  fourteen  pounds  of  the  grain,  Oats 
have  been  used  to  some  extent  for  the  purpose  of  making  malt,  and  oat  ale  is  commended  by  -Mr 
Mowbray  as  a  pleasant  summer  drink.  In  former  days,  a  drink  called  mum  was  manufactured  for  sale, 
in  the  preparation  of  which  oatmeal  was  employed.  English  Geneva,  or  gin,  is  made  of  spirit  obtained 
from  oats  and  barley  or  malt,  rectified  or  distilled,  with  the  addition  of  juniper  berries,  oil  of  turpen- 
tine, &c.  One  hundred  pounds  of  oatmeal  will  yield  by  distillation  thirty-six  pounds  of  spirits. 

One  hundred  millions  of  bushels  of  oats  were  grown  in  the  United  States  in  1810,  of  which  New 
York  produced  upwards  of  twenty  millions,  and  Pennsylvania  the  same  quantity  — L. 

t  Essay  on  Ftcding  the  Poor. 


RYE. 


157 


down  to  two  pints,  and  strain.  It  is  frequently  flavored  with  sugar,  and  sometimes  with 
slices  of  lemon-peel.  Compound  barley  tvater  is  prepared  by  boiling  together  two  piuts 
of  barley  water,  a  pint  of  water,  two  ounces  and  a  half  of  sliced  figs,  half  an  ounce  of  liquor- 
ice root,  sliced  and  bruised,  and  two  ounces  and  a  half  of  raisins.  They  are  boiled  down 
to  two  pint?,  and  strained.  This  decoction  is  emollient,  demulcent,  and  slightly  aperient. 

Malt. — This  is  barley  which  has  been  made  to  germinate  by  moisture  and  warmth,  and 
afterwards  dried,  by  which  the  vitality  of  the  seed  is  destroyed.  By  this  process  a  pecu- 
liar nitrogenous  principle,  called  diastase,  is  produced.  This,  though  it  does  not  constitute 
more  than  l-500th  part  of  the  malt,  serves  to  effect  the  conversion  of  the  starch  of  the 
seed  into  dextrine  and  grape  sugar,  preliminary  to  the  operation  of  brewing.  The  color 
of  the  malt  varies  according  to  the  heat  employed  in  drying  it :  pale  or  amber  malt  yields 
a  fermentable  infusion  :  brown  or  blown  malt  is  not  fermentable,  but  is  used  to  communi- 
cate flavor  ;  while  roasted  or  high-dried  malt,  which  has  been  scorched,  is  employed  for 
coloring.  The  infusion  or  decoction  of  malt,  (called  sweet-wort,')  contains  saccharine  mat- 
ter, starch,  glutinous  matter,  and  mucilage.  It  is  nutritious  and  laxative,  and  has  been 
used  as  an  antiscorbutic  and  tonic.  Macbride  recommended  it  in  scurvy,  but  it  is  apt  to 
increase  the  diarrhoea.  As  a  tonic,  it  has  been  used  in  scrofulous  affections,  purulent 
discharges,  as  from  the  kidneys,  lungs,  &c.,  and  in  pulmonary  consumption.  The  de- 
coction is  prepared  by  boiling  three  ounces  of  malt  in  a  quart  of  water.  This  quantity 
may  be  taken  daily. 

4.  Rye, — The  cultivated  or  common  rye  is  the  Secale  cereale  of  botanists.  Though  in  com- 
mon use  among  the  northern  inhabitants  of  Europe,  it  is  rarely  employed  as  food  in  England. 

COMPOSITION  OF  RYE. 

The  Entire  Seeds. 


Husk      . 
Pure  Meal 
Moisture 


24-2 
65-6 
10-2 

100-0 


Rye-Meal 
Starch 
Gum    . 
Gluten 
Albumen 
Saccharine  matter 
Husk 
Undetermined  acid  and  loss 


61-07 
11-09 
9-48 
3-28 
3-28 
6-38 
5-42 

100-0 


[t  contains  less  gluten  than  wheat,  (see  p.  97,)  and  yields  less  nitrogen,  (see  pp.  145 
and  28  :)  hence  it  is  inferior  in  nutritive  properties  to  the  latter. 

Rye-bread,  called  in  Germany  Sckwartzbrot,  or  Black  Bread,  has,  according  to  Bceck- 
mann,  the  following  composition  : — 


COMPOSITION  OF  RYE  BREAD. 

1  2 


Water     . 
Dry  matter 


33    -    31-418 
67    -    68-592 

100   -    100-000 


2 


Carbon 

Hydrogen 

Nitrogen 

Oxygen 

Ashes 


45.09  -  45-41 

6-5i  -  6-45 

45. 12  -  44.89 

3.25  -  3.25 


Dry  matter  .        .        100-00       100-00 

From  these  analyses  Liebig  calculates  that  100  parts  of  fresh  bread  contain  on  an  aver- 
age 30-15  parts  of  carbon. 

In   those  unaccustomed  to  it,  rye  bread  is  apt  to  occasion  diarrhoea,  which  Dr.  Cullen 
ascribes  to  its  readily  becoming  acescent. 

Rye-pottage  is  said  to  be  a  useful  article  of  diet  in  consumptive  cases.* 

*  Rye  bread  has  one  advantage,  in  its  retaining  its  humidity  at  the  same  time  that  it  preserves  its 
fljtvor.    Dr.  Bell  of  Philadelphia  remarks,  (on  "  Regimen,"  &c.,  p.  144,)  "  When  made  of  flour  not  too 


Rye  is  exceedingly  subject  to  the  attack  of  the  Ergot ;  and  to  the  use  of  ergotized  rye 
a  disease  termed  Ergotism  has  been  ascribed.  It  assumes  two  forms,  one  called  convul- 
sive,— the  other,  gangrenous  ergotism.  In  the  former,  convulsion,  in  the  latter,  gangrene 
of  the  extremities,  constitutes  the  most  marked  character,  f 

[Buckwheat  is  a  native  of  Asia,  but  somewhat  extensively  cultivated  in  many  parts  of 
the  U.  States  for  cakes.  It  is  sometimes  used  for  bread,  but  not  often.  In  Germany,  it  forms 
a  common  ingredient  in  pottage  and  puddings;  and  in  some  countries,  the  poor  mix  buck- 
wheat meal  with  a  small  proportion  of  wheat  flour,  and  make  a  kind  of  bread  of  the  com- 
pound. Those  who  keep  bees,  frequently  sow  buckwheat  in  the  vicinity,  under  a  belief 
that  these  insects  are  partial  to  the  flowers,  arid  derive  more  materials  for  their  honey 
from  this  than  any  other  plant. 

Buckwheat  may  be  converted  into  malt,  and  subsequently  into  beer  and  ardent  spirit. 

In  1840,  the  quantity  of  buckwheat  grown  in  Pennsylvania,  amounted  to  2,113,742 
bushels;  in  New  York,  to  2,287,885;  in  Virginia,  to  683,130;  and  in  Ohio,  to  681,'Jir>. 
The  produce  of  the  whole  U.  States  was  about  eight  millions  and  a  half  of  bu^h^ls.  In 
France  there  is  annually  raised  about  25  millions  of  bushels  of  buckwheat,  it  being  very 
extensively  employed  among  the  people  as  an  aliment 

For  making  buckwheat  cakes,  take  one  quart  of  buckwheat  meal,  a  handful  of  Indian 
ni<-al,  and  a  lea-spoonful  of  salt;  mix  them  with  two  large  spoonfuls  of  yeast,  and  suffi- 
cient cold  water  to  make  a  thick  batter.  Put  it  in  a  warm  place  to  rise,  which  will  take 
3  or  4  hours  ;  or,  if  mixed  at  night,  let  it  stand  where  it  is  rather  cool.  Bake  on  a  grid- 
die,  or  in  a  pan.] — L. 

5.  Rice. — This  is  the  well-knowu  grain  of  Oryza  saliva.  While  in  the  hu-k  it  is  called 
P'td'li/  (padi  or  paddie)  by  the  Malays,  bras  when  deprived  of  the  husk,  and  nasi  after  it 
lias  been  boiled.  It  is  extensively  raised  in  India,  China,  and  most  other  Eastern  coun- 
tries ;  in  the  West  Indies,  Central  America,  and  the  United  States ;  and  in  some  of  the 
southern  countries  of  Europe.  The  kinds  most  esteemed  in  England  are  the  Caroli- 
na and  Patna  ricp. 

The  composition  of  Carolina  and  Piedmont  rice  is,  according  to  Braconnot,  as 
follows  : — 

COMPOSITION  OF  RICE. 


Carolina  Rice. 

Piedmont  Rice. 

Starch          .... 

85-07 

8380 

Parenchyma  (woody  fibre) 

4-80 

4-80 

Glutiooui  matter 

360 

3-60 

Rancid,  colorless,  tallowy  oil  • 

013 

025 

I  nrrystallizuble  sugar 

0-29 

0-05 

(•nun    ..... 

0-71 

010 

Phosphate  of  lime 

0-40 

o-io 

Wat,-,-           .... 

5-00 

700 

Acetic   acid,   phosphate  of  potash,  ) 
chloride  of  pMt:isHiini,  and  vege-  > 

traces 

traces 

table  salts  of  potash  and  lime     .    } 

100-00 

100-00 

fini  ly  bolted,  rye  bread  is  suited  to  certain  forms  of  dyspepsii  with  costivenese,  and  the  subjects  of  which 
are  of  a  sanguine  temperament."  Spiced  rye  cakes  were  for  a  long  period  greatly  in  vogue  in  Europe — 
from  the  time  of  the  Romans  to  that  of  Louis  XIV.  Rye  meal  boiled  in  water,  (rye  mush,)  is  very  useful 
in  cases  of  habitual  costh  eness,  taken  with  molasses ;  or  in  cases  less  obstinate  it  may  be  eaten  to 
advantage  with  milk. — L. 

t  For  further  detail--,  as  well  as  for  references,  respecting  ergot  of  rye,  see  my  Elements  of  Materta 
Medica. 


RICE.  159 

In  the  manufacture  of  rice  starch  by  Mr.  Orlando  Jones's  patent  process,  Patna  rice  is 
digested  in  a  weak  solution  of  caustic  alkali,  (soda,)  by  which  the  gluten,  as  it  is  techni- 
cally called,  is  dissolved  and  removed.  The  insoluble  matter  consists  of  starch,  and  a 
white  substance  termed  by  Mr.  Jones,  fibre.  The  last  mentioned  substance  appears,  when 
examined  by  the  microscope,  to  consist  chiefly  of  starch  grains,  but  in  drying  it  does  not 
split  into  prismatic  columnar  masses, — in  the  language  of  the  starch-maker,  it  does  not 
race, — and,  therefore,  is  not  fit  for  commerce.  Mr.  Jones  informs  me  that  in  manufactur- 
ing rice  starch  on  the  large  scale,  Patna  rice,  dried  at  from  160°  to  180°  F.,  for  several 
days,  yields  80  per  cent,  of  marketable  starch,*  and  8'2  per  cent,  of  fibre;  the  remaining 
11-8  per  cent,  being  made  up  of  gluten,  gruff  or  bran,  and  a  small  quantity  of  light  starch, 
carried  off  in  suspension  by  the  alkaline  solution.f 

If  the  alkaline  solution  of  glutinous  matter  be  carefully  neutralized  by  an  acid,  the 
gluten  is  precipitated.  I  have  received  from  Mr.  Jones  a  quantity  of  this  precipitate.  It 
had  a  creamy  consistence,  an  agreeable  smell,  and  a  bland  taste,  somewhat  like  pap. 
When  heated  it  separates  into  two  parts, — a  coagulum  or  curd,  and  a  serous  or  aqueous 
substance.  By  keeping  it  curdled,  and  subsequently  underwent  a  peculiar  kind  of  fer- 
mentation, evolving  a  smell  somewhat  like  sour  yeast.  When  fresh,  it  appeared  to  me 
well  adapted  for  use  as  food ;  and  I  have  a  diabetic  patient,  in  the  London  Hospital,  now 
trying  its  effects.  He  uses  it  in  the  form  of  a  baked  pudding  containing  eggs.  The  only 
other  vegetable  food  which  he  is  permitted  to  take  is  cabbage.  He  has,  however,  a  plen- 
tiful allowance  of  meat,  cheese,  milk,  &c.  On  this  regimen  the  quantity  of  urine  passed 
in  twenty-four  hours  has  been  reduced,  in  about  ten  days,  from  11  pints,  to  3$.  Its  sp. 
gr.,  however,  is  but  little  changed. 

The  granule  of  rice  starch  is  excessively  small.  According  to  Vauquelin  this  starch 
begins  to  dissolve  in  water  when  this  liquid  has  attained  a  temperature  of  from  1*22°  F. 
to  132°  F.  The  same  authority  states  that  an  infusion  of  rice  contains  a  little  phosphate 
of  lime,  which  is  held  in  solution  by  the  starch.  Vogel  obtained  T05  per  cent,  of  oil  from 
dried  rice. 

"Rice,"  says  Marsden,^  "is  the  grand  material  of  food  on  which  a  hundred  millions 
of  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  subsist,  a^jd  although  chiefly  confined  by  nature  to  the  re- 
gions included  between,  and  bordering  on  the  tropics,  its  cultivation  is  probably  more  ex- 
tensive than  that  of  wheat,  which  the  Europeans  are  wont  to  consider  as  the  universal 
staff  of  life." 

Rice,  though  nutritious,  is  less  so  than  wheat :  this  is  proved  by  chemical  analysis, 
which  shows  the  much  smaller  proportion  of  glutinous  or  nitrogenous  matter  founl  in  the 
former  than  in  the  latter  grain.  "Rice,"  says  Boussingault,§  "is  held  up  as  a  most 
nutritive  food.  But  though  I  have  lived  long  in  countries  which  produce  it,  I  am  far 
from  considering  it  as  a  substantial  nourishment.  I  have  always  seen  it,  in  ordinary  use, 
replace  bread  ;  and  when  it  has  not  been  associated  with  meat,  it  has  been  employed 
with  milk." 

*  According  to  Vogel,  a  dried  rice  yielded  him  96  per  cent,  of  starch. 

t  Vuuquelin  (Mcmoires  du  Museum  (THistoire  Naturelle,  t.  iii.  p.  229.  1817)  says  that  rice  contains 
scarcely  an  appreciable  quantity  of  gluten.  Braconnot,  however,  in  his  analyses,  obtained  3  6  per  cent, 
of  gluten.  It  is  probable  that  the  11-8  per  cent,  loss  of  weight,  experienced  by  digesting  rice  in  a  weak 
alkaline  solution,  is  ascribable,  not  merely  to  gluten,  and  the  other  substances  named  in  the  text,  but 
also  to  gum,  sugar,  and  water,  contained  in  the  grain.  But  even  assuming  this  to  be  the  case,  1  suspect 
that  both  Vauquelin  and  Braconnot  have  underrated  the  glutinous  or  nitrogenous  matter  contained  in 
rice.  My  suspicion  does  not  rest  merely  on  Mr.  Jones's  results,  but  also  on  Boussingault's  statement  of 
the  quantity  of  nitrogen  contained  in  rice. 

t  History  of  Sumatra,  p.  65,  3d  ed.     1811.  $  Ann.  Chim.  et  Phys  Ixvii.  p.  413. 


160  COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 


Rice  is  less  laxative  than  the  other  cereal  grains.  Indeed,  it  is  generally  believed  to 
possess  a  binding  or  constipating  quality  ;  and,  in  consequence,  is  frequently  prescribed  by 
medical  men  as  a  light,  digestible,  uninjurious  article  of  food  in  diarrhoea  and  dysentery.* 

Various  ill  effects,  such  as  disordered  vision,  &c.,  have  been  ascribed  to  its  use  ;f  but, 
as  I  believe,  unjustly  so.  Neither  dees  there  appear  to  me  to  be  any  real  foundation  for 
the  assertions  of  Dr.  Tytler,}  that  malignant  cholera  (which  he  calls  the  morbus  oryzeus, 
or  rice  disease)  is  induced  by  it. 

Rice  is  employed  as  a  nutriment  in  a  variety  of  forms.  Mucilage  of  Rice,  obtained  by 
boiling  well-washed  rice  in  water,  contains  both  starch  and  phosphate  of  lime  in  solution. 
It  is  used  as  a  demulcent  in  diarrhoea.  Rice-milk,  rice-pudding,  &c.,  are  other  prepara- 
tions of  rice  employed  by  invalids.  Rice-cakes  contain,  besides  flour,  eggs,  and  sugar, 
about  one  third  of  their  weight  of  rice.} 

[Wild  Rice,  (Zizania  Aqualica,  Faluns  Avena,)  called  by  the  Indians  menomeme,  is  found 
in  great  abundance  on  the  marshy  margins  of  the  northern  "lakes  and  waters  of  the  upper 
branches  of  the  Mississippi :  it  grows  also  as  far  south  as  Natchitoches,  below  lat.  a^'. 
The  grain  lias  a  long  slender  hull,  much  resembling  that  of  oats,  except  that  it  is  larger 
and  darker.  On  it  the  migratory  water-fowls  fatten,  before  they  wing  their  autumnal 
flight  to  the  south.  It  furnishes  the  northern  savages  and  the  Canadian  traders  and 
hunters  with  their  annual  supplies  of  grain.  But  for  this  annual  resource  they  could 
hardly  exist.  The  wild  rice  is  a  tall,  tubular,  reedy,  aquatic  plant,  not  unlike  the  bas- 
tard cane  of  the  southern  countries.  It  springs  up  from  waters  of  six  or  seven  feet  in 
depth,  where  the  bottom  is  soft  and  muddy  ;  and  it  rises  nearly  to  the  same  distance 
above  the  water.  The  grain,  when  detached  from  its  chaff,  is  as  white  as  the  common 
rice.  Puddings  made  of  it,  tasted  to  us  like  those  made  of  Sago. — Bell  an  "  Regimen," 
<5fC.,  and  Flint  on  the  History  and  Geography  of  the  Mississippi  Valley.] — L. 

6.  Maize  or  Indian  Corn. — This  is  the  produce  of  the  plant  called  by  botanists  the  Zea 
Mays.  Its  composition,  according  to  the  analyses  of  Dr.  Gorham  and  Bizio,  is  as  fol- 
lows : — 

COMPOSITION  OF  MAIZE  O^  INDIAN  CORN. 
1.  Dr.  Gorham's  Analysis. 

Common  State.  Dried. 

StarchU             7TO    .        .        .  W'599 

Zeine 3'0    ...  3'296 

Albumen 2'5    .  2  747 

Gummy  matter 1'75  .        .        .  H>±2 

Saccharine  matter 1*45  .        .        .  1-593 


*  We  regard  rice  as  one  of  the  most  valuable  of  all  the  articles  of  food,  in  cases  of  derangement  of  the  di- 
gestive organs.  It  nourishes,  while  it  soothes  the  irritable  mucous  membrane,  and  while  it  supports  the 
strength,  it  never  seems  to  aggravate  the  existing  disease.  For  acute  or  chronic  affections  of  the  alimen- 
tary canal,  rice-water  for  drink,  and  rice-jelly  for  food,  seem  peculiarly  well  adapted,  and  in  many  cases 
appear  almost  to  exert  a  specific  influence  in  bringing  about  a  recovery.  The  jelly  may  be  prepared  by 
boiling  two  (  unces  of  the  flour,  and  three  ounces  of  loaf-sugar  in  a  pint  of  water,  until  it  becomes  thick 
and  transparent,  flavoring  with  rose,  or  orange  flower  water.  It  may  also  be  made  by  slow  and  careful 
boiling  the  whole  rice,  in  a  small  quantity  of  water,  until  it  assume  the  appearance  and  consistence  of  cream, 
when,  on  cooling,  it  assumes  the  form  of  a  jelly.  The  same  preparation  is  invaluable  in  convalescence 
from  acute  febrile  and  other  maladies,  and  in  the  summer  complaints  of  children. — L. 

t  Bontius,  Account  of  the  Diseases,  Natural  History,  fyc.,  of  the  East  Indies,  translated  ii»>o  English,  1769. 
Also,  Bricheteau,  in  Tortuelle's  EUm.  d1  Hygiene,  4me  6d. 

\  Lancet,  1833-31,  vol.  i.  $  Appendix,  8. 

||  The  substance  sold  under  the  name  of  Indian  Corn  Starch,  in  the  London  shops,  is  Potato  Starch. 


LEGUMINOUS  SEEDS.  161 


• 

^onamon  State. 

Dried. 

Extractive  matter   ...               .                . 

0.8     . 

0-&79 

Cuticle  and  ligneous  fibre       ... 
Phosphate,  carbonate,  and  sulphate  of  lime,  and  loss 

3-0     . 
1-5    . 

.      3296 
.      1-643 

Water      .                                .... 

9-0    . 

0 

100-0  99  98 

2.  Bizio't  Analysis. 

Starch                     .                               .                               .  80-920 

(  Fatty  oil                              1-152 

Zei'ne    .        .        Gliadine     .        .                .....  2-499 

( Zimome 2-107 

Zimome 0'945 

Fatty  oil         ........                .  0-323 

Extractive  matter  and  sugar 1-987 

Gum       .                2-283 

Hordein 7710 

Acetic  acid,  salts,  and  loss    ...                ....  0-074 


100-000 

MM.  Dumas  and  Payen  procured  9  per  cent,  of  yellow  oil  from  maize  ;*  but  Liebigf 
was»able  to  obtain  only  4-25  per  cent.  This  oil  consists,  according  to  Fresenius,  of  carbon 
79-68,  hydrogen  11-53,  an>l  oxygen  8-79. 

In  America,  Asia,  and  some  parts  of  Europe,  maize  is  extensively  used  for  human  ex- 
istence. "Like  the  farina  of  the  wheat,"  says  Dr.  DunglisonJ,  "it  is  formed  into  bread, 
alone  or  with  various  additions, — as  milk,  eggs,  &c.  It  is  a  wholesome  and  nutritious 
aliment,  but  with  those  who  are  unaccustomed  to  its  use  it  is  apt  to  produce  diarrhoea ; 
in  consequence,  probably,  of  the  presence  of  the  husk,  with  which  it  is  always  more  or 
less  mixed,  in  the  state  in  which  it  is  brought  to  market.  It  is  on  this  account  that  it  has 
been  regarded  as  a  bread  but  little  adapted  for  those  liable  to,  or  laboring  under,  bowel 
affections,  or  in  times  when  a  choleric  predisposition  exists.  The  same  author  further 
adds,§  that  "the  young  grains,  constituting  the  'roasting  ears,'  make  a  delicious  vegeta- 
ble, ready  for  the  table,  too,  after  the  season  for  green  peas  has  gone  by.  When  very 
young,  corn  in  this  state  is  in  its  most  digestible  condition,  the  husk  being  comparatively 
tender;  but  when  old,  a  considerable  part  of  the  grain  withstands  the  digestive  operation, 
and  passes  through  the  bowels  unchanged.  It  need  hardly,  therefore,  be  added,  that 
where  bowel  affections  are  rife,  this  vegetable  ought  to  be  used  with  caufion.  Corn  meal, 
mixed  with  cheese,  and  baked  into  a  kind  of  pudding,  forms  the  dish  which  the  Italians 
call  Polenta."\\  IT 

b.  Leguminous  Seeds, — Of  the  Leguminous  Seeds  the  best  known  in  England  are  Peas 
and  Beans ;  but  on  the  continent,  and  in  eastern  countries,  Lentils  are  in  common  use. 
Their  composition,  as  determined  by  Einhof,  is  as  follows : — 

*  See  ante,  p.  85.  t  Annalen  der  Chemie  und  Pharmacie,  Bd.  xlv.  S.  126.    1843. 

J  Elements  of  Hygiene,  p.  289.     1835.  §  Ibid.  p.  294. 

||  The  substance  sold  in  the  London  shops  under  the  name  of  Polenta  is  the  meal  oi'Indian  corn. 

IF  Indian  corn  and  potatoes,  indigenous  to  our  country,  have  contributed  much  to  promote  the  health 
and  longevity  of  mankind  in  both  hemispheres.  As  they  are  among  the  cheapest,  so  also  are  they 
among  the  most  wholesome  of  all  articles  of  food  employed  by  man.  Good  corn  weighs  about  60  Ibs. 
to  the  bushel,  and  costs  at  present  56  cents  per  bushel,  or  nearly  one  cent  per  pound.  Now  a  pound 
of  corn,  when  cooked,  make,s  from  two  and  a  half  to  three  and  a  half  pounds  of  food,  and  this  will 
suihce  lor  the  daily  support  of  a  laboring  man.  II'  an  individual  could  be  supported  on  this  alone,  his 
annual  expense  for  food  would  be  but  $3  65,  or  say  $15  to  a  family  of  live.  The  average  cost  of  po- 
tatoes may  be  put  at  about  half  a  cent  a  pound,  and  allowing  live  pounds  per  day  to  an  adult  individual, 
tne  expense  will  be  about  $9  a  year ;  or  for  a  family  of  five,  (reckoning  them  at  three  and  a  half  adults,) 
about  $30.  When  we  consider  that  it  is  not  unusual  for  land  to  yield  100  bushels  of  corn  to  the  acre, 
and  30  tons,  or  67,200  pounds  of  potatoes  to  the  acre,  we  may  form  some  estimate  of  the  population 
which  this  country  is  capable  of  supporting  from  the  produce  of  the  soil. — L 

11 


162 


COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 


COMPOSITION  OF  LEGUMINOUS  SEEDS. 


Peas 
(Fisum  gativum.) 


Starch     .        .  .  32-45 

Amylaceous  fibre  .  21'88 

Legumine  (Caseine)  .  14-56 

Gum        .        .  6-37 

Albumen          .  .  1'72 

Sweet  Extractive  matter  2-11 

Membrane      .  .  — 

Water     .        .  .  14-06 

Salts         .  .  6-56 

Loss                .  .  0-29 


Garden  Bean* 
(Vicia  Faba.) 


34-17 

15-89 

10-86 

461 

0-81 

3-54 

10-05 

15-63 

3-46 

0-98 


Kidney  Beanf 
(Pliaseqlug 
vuJgaris.) 

.    3594 
1107 
20-81 
19-37 
1-35 
3-41 
7-50 
(dried) 
055 


Lentils 
i  Lena.} 


(Enrum 


32.81 

1875 

37-32 

5-99 

1-15 

3-12 


0-57 
0-29 


100-00  100-00  100-00  100-00 

Peas,  Beans,  and  Lentils,  have  been  submitted  to  ultimate  analysis  by  Boussingaultf 
and  by  Playfair.§ 

ULTIMATE  COMPOSITION  OF  LEGUMINOUS  SEEDS. 


Peas. 

Peat. 

Beans. 

lentils. 

Mricd  in  racuo 

Playfair. 

at  '230°  F  ) 
Bouwingault. 

Plnyfair. 

Playfair. 

Carbon        .                .    35-743 

46'  ~) 

.38-24 

37-38 

Hydrogen                   .      6-401 

6-2 

554 

5-54 

Nitrogen     .                )  oa.qra 
Oxygen       .                5  * 
Ashes          .                .      3-440 

40-0 
4-2 
31 

|  38.10 
3-71 

37-98 

Water         .               .    16-000 

00 

1411 

1590 

100-000 

100-0 

100-00 

100-00 

Liebig  assumes,  that  the  average  amount  of  carbon  in  peas,  beans,  and  lentils,  in  the 
state  in  which  they  are  used,  is  37  per  cent.;  an  assumption  sufficiently  near  the  truth 
for  all  practical  purposes. 

The  quantity  of  nitrogen  contained  in  these  leguminous  seeds  is  larger  than  that  found 
in  the  cereal  grains  ;  so  that  if  the  nutritive  quality  of  vegetables  was  in  proportion  to  the 
nitrogen  which  they  contain,  these  seeds  would  be  more  nutritive  than  wheat ;  and, 
accordingly,  in  Boussingault's  scale  of  nutritive  equivalents,  their  nutritive  equivalent  is 
lower,  or  in  other  word?,  their  nutritive  quality  is  assumed  to  be  higher  than  that  of  wheat, 
(see  ante,  pp.  27-28.)  For 

44  parts  of  horse  bean?,  or      ~) 

56  parts  of  white  haricots,  or  I  are  said  to  be  )  1An  r     u 

57  parts  of  lentils,  or  '     equivalent  to  \  10°  Parts  of  wheat  flour' 
67  parts  of  peas, 

Experience,  however,  by  no  means  confirms  these  theoretical  conclusions ;  and  Liebig, 
therefore,  offers  the  following  explanation  of  the  want  of  relation  between  their  nutritive 
quality  and  the  proportion  of  nitrogen  which  they  contain.  "  The  small  quantity  of  phos- 
phates which  the  seeds  of  the  lentils,  beans,  and  peas  contain,"  says  Liebig,!!  "must  be 
the  cause  of  their  small  value  he  articles  of  nourishment,  since  they  surpass  all  other 
vegetable  food  in  the  quantity  of  nitrogen  which  enters  into  their  composition.  But  a« 


*  This  species  is  commonly  known  as  broad  bean,  or  Windfor  bean. 

t  The  common  dwarf  kidney  bean,  the  haricot  of  the  French,  is  commonly  termed  Fiench  t 
a  distinct  species  from  the  fcarlet  bean,  (Phaseolus  multiflorus.) 
$  Memoires  de  r  Academic  Royale  dfs  Sciences,  t.  xviii.  p.  345.    1824 
§  Liebig's  Animal  Chemistry. 
||  Chemistry  in  its  Application  to  Apncidture  and  Physiology,  \..  147,  3d  ed. 


OILY  SEEDS. 


163 


the  component  parts  of  the  bones  (phosphate  of  lime  and  magnesia)  are  absent,  they 
satisfy  the  appetite  without  increasing  the  strength." 

I  have  already  (see  p.  28)  remarked,  that  were  this  hypothesis  correct,  the  addition  of 
aone-ashes  (earthy  phosphates)  ought  to  add  greatly  to  the  nutritive  powers  of  the 
leguminous  seeds,  and  would,  in  fact,  render  them  much  more  nutritious  than  the  cereal 
grains. 

Peas  and  beans  are  very  apt  to  occasion  flatulence,  and  even  colic ;  and  their  difficult 
digestibility  augments  with  their  age ;  for  when  very  young  they  are  sweet,  and  more  di- 
gestible, but  less  nourishing.  They  are  usually  regarded  as  being  stimulating  or  heating,* 
and,  on  that  account,  unfit  for  feorile  and  inflammatory  cases. 

c.  Seeds  of  Cupulifercc. — The  principal  cupuliferous  seeds  used  in  this  country  as  food 
is  the  Chestnut,  ( Castanea  vesca.)  It  possesses  considerable  nutritive  power,  and  in  Lom- 
bardy  is  used  as  food  by  the  lower  classes.  Its  sweetness,  especially  when  roasted,  indi- 
cates the  presence  of  sugar.  No  oil  can  be  obtained  from  it  by  pressure.  In  the  raw 
state,  it  is  very  difficult  of  digestion  :  it  requires  to  be  cooked  (roasted)  to  split  the  starch 
grains  which  it  contains,  and  thereby  to  render  them  readily  digestible.  Dyspeptics  should 
carefully  avoid  chestnuts,  even  in  the  cooked  state. 

2.  OILY  SEEDS. — To  this  division  belong  the  Almond,  the  Walnut,  the  Hazel-nut,  the 
Butter-nut,  the  Filbert,  the  Cashew-nut,  the  Pistachio-nut,  the  Stone-Pine-nut,  (Pignoli- 
Pine,)  and  the  Cocoa-nut.  These  contain  vegetable  albumen  and  caseine,  on'  which  their 
nutritive  qualities  principally  depend.  They  also  contain  a  quantity  of  fixed  oil,  which 
renders  them  very  difficult  of  digestion  ;  and  unfit  for  dyspeptics  and  others  who  have  a 
delicate  stomach. 

The  Almond  (both  sweet  and  bitter)  is  the  produce  of  the  Amygdalus  communis. 
BOULLAY  AND  VOGEL'S  ANALYSES  OF  SWEET  AND  BITTER  ALMONDS. 


Boullay's  Analysis. 

VogeFs  Analysis. 

Fixed  oil      . 
Emulsin 

54-0 
240 

Volatile  oil  and  hy-  >    Quantity  un- 
drocyanic  acid        s     determined. 

Liquid  sugar 

6-0 

Fixed  oil 

28-0 

Gum 

3-0 

Emulsin. 

30-0 

Seed-coats  . 
Woody  fibre 

5-0 

4-0 

Liquid  sugar 
Gum 

65 
3-0 

Water 

3-5 

Seed-coats     . 

8-5 

Acetic  acid  and  loss 

0-5 

Woody  fibre 

50 

Loss 

19-0 

Sweet  almonds    .        .     100-0 

Bitter  almonds            .        .     100-0 

Sweet  almonds  are  nutritive  and  emollient,  but,  on  account  of  their  fixed  oil,  difficult  of 
digestion,  at  least  when  taken  in  large  quantities,  or  by  persons  whose  .digestive  powers 
are  weak.  When  rancid  they  are  still  more  apt  to  disorder  the  stomach.  The  husk  or 
pellicle  of  the  almond  has  been  known  to  occasion  nausea,  uneasiness  in  the  stomach  arid 
bowels,  increased  heat,  cedematous  swelling  of  the  face,  followed  by  nettle-rash.  Dr. 
Winterbottomf  suffered  twice  in  this  way  from  the  use  of  unblanched  sweet  almonds  ; 
but  blanched  almonds  caused  him  no  inconvenience.  Almonds  are  employed  as  a  des- 
sert, and  in  puddings,  cakes,  &c.  For  table  use  they  should  always  be  blanched,  on  ac- 
count of  the  injurious  qualities  of  the  husk. 

Bitter  almonds  are  more  or  less  poisonous  to  all  classes  of  animals.  They  contain 
neither  volatile  oil  nor  prussic  acid,{  though  they  yield  both  these  substances  when  suh- 

*  Beans  are  believed,  by  veterinarians,  to  possess  a  stimulating  influence  over  the  horse, 
t  Medical  Facts  and  Observations,  vol.  v.  p.  60. 

\  For  the  facts  in  proof  of  the  accuracy  of  this  statement,  see  my  Elements  of  Materia  Medico,  vol.  li. 
p.  1535. 


164 


COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 


mitted  to  distillation  with  water;  but  they  contain  a  peculiar  crystallizable  principle,  called 
AmygdaHn,  whose  composition  is  Cw  Hr  NO2*.  Now,  when  bitter  almond  cake  is  sub- 
mitted to  distillation,  with  water,  the  amygdalin  suffers  decomposition  by  the  united 
agencies  of  the  emulsin  (of  the  seed)  and  the  water,  and  yields  hydrocyanic  acid,  volatile 
oil  of  bitter  almonds,  sugar,  formic  acid,  and  water. 

PRODUCTS  OF  THE  DECOMPOSITION  OF  AMYGDALIN  BY  EMULSIN. 

Atoms  of 


1  atom  of  Hydrocyanic  Acid 
2  atoms  VoJatile  Oil  of  Bitter  Almonds 

Carbon 

8 
28 

Hydrogen 
12 

Nitrogen 
0 

Oxygen 
4 

1  atom  of  Sugar     ..... 

6 

5 

0 

5 

2  atoms  of  Formic  Acid 

4 

2 

0 

6 

7  atoms  of  Water  .        .        .    '    . 

0 

7 

0 

7 

1  atom  of  Amygdalin    . 

40 

27 

1 

22 

When  bitter  almonds  are  chewed,  the  moisture  of  the  mouth  and  the  emulsin  of  the 
seeds  effect  the  decomposition  of  the  amygdalin,  and  the  formation  of  prussic  acid  and 
volatile  oil ;  and  the  poisonous  operation  of  the  seeds  depends  on  the  prussic  acid.  The 
smaller  animal?,  as  dogs,  pigeons,  &c.,  are  readily  destroyed  by  them.  One  drachm  has 
killed  a  pigeon,  and  twenty  seeds  have  destroyed  a  dog.  "On  man  they  frequently 
prove  injurious  even  in  small  doses,  while,  in  large  ones,  they  are  highly  deleterious.  In 
some  persons',  nausea,  vomiting,  and  purging,  are  readily  caused  by  them.  On  the  late 
Dr.  Gregory*  they  produced  first  sickness,  generally  tremors,  then  vomiting,  next  a  hot 
fit,  with  an  eruption  of  nettle-rash,  particularly  on  the  upper  part  of  the  body.  At  the 
same  time  the  face  and  head  swelled  very  much,  and  there  was  a  general  feeling  like  in- 
toxication. The  symptoms  lasted  only  a  few  hours.  The  rash  did  not  alternately  appear 
and  disappear,  as  in  common  nettle-rash. 

When  eaten  in  large  quantities,  bitter  almonds  have  caused  serious  and  even  fatal  con- 
sequences. Pierer  states  that  three  children,  having  taken  some  of  these  seeds,  were  at- 
tacked in  a  few  minutes  with  nausea,  vomiting,  loss  of  consciousness  and  of  speech,  and 
convulsions;  and  Mr.  Kennedy  has  noticed  the  case  of  a  stout  laborer  who  died  after  the 
use  of  a  large  quantity  of  them.  These,  and  other  observations  referred  to  by  Wibmer, 
Cullen,  and  others,  prove  that  the  poisonous  effects  of  the  bitter  almond  are  similar  to 
those  of  prussic  acid,  on  the  development  of  which,  in  fact,  their  activity  depends. 
Macaroons  and  Ratafia  cakes,  as  well  as  Noyeau,  which  owe  their  peculiar  flavor  to  these 
seeds,  likewise  prove  injurious  when  taken  in  large  quantities. 

The  volatile  oil  of  bitter  almonds  (frequently  sold  in  the  shops  as  essence  of  bitter  almonds') 
is  a  most  potent  poison,  being  in  general  four  times  as  powerful  as  the  prussic  acid  kept 
in  chemists'  shops.  A  single  drop  of  it  will  kill  a  cat  in  a  few  minutes.  Sir  Benjamin 
Brodie  happening  to  touch  his  tongue  with  a  probe  which  had  been  dipped  in  it,  suffered, 
almost  instantaneously,  an  indescribable  sensation  at  the  pit  of  the  stomach,  feebleness  of 
the  limbs,  and  loss  of  power  over  the  muscles.  These  effects  were,  however,  quite 
transient.  A  few  years  ago,  a  lady,  in  Aldersgate-street,  London,  was  accidentally  killed 
by  it.  She  sent  to  a  chemist's  shop  for  beech  nut  oil,  to  destroy  worms,  and  the  person  in 
the  shop,  mistaking  the  inquiry  for  peach  nut  oil,  served  her  with  oil  of  bitter  almonds,  of 
which  she  took  half  an  ounce,  by  which  she  lost  her  life.  An  hypochondriacal  gentleman, 
48  years  old,  swallowed  about  two  tea-spoonfuls  of  the  oil,  and  in,  a  few  minutes  after 
was  found  by  his  servant  lying  in  bed,  with  his  features  spasmodically  contracted,  his 

*  Dr.  Christison's  Preatise  on  Poisons. 


DRUPACEOUS  FRUITS. 


165 


eyes  fixed*  staring,  and  turned  upwards,  and  his  chest  heaving  convulsively  and  hur- 
riedly. A  physician,  who  entered  the  room  twenty  minutes  after  the  draught  had  been 
taken,  found  him  quite  insensible,  the  pupils  immoveable*  the  breathing  stertorous  and 
slow,  the  pulse  feeble,  and  only  thirty  in  a  minute,  and  the  breath  exhaling  strongly  the 
odor  of  bitter  almonds.  Death  ensued  ten  minutes  afterwards.  With  these  facts 
be  fort?  us,  it  is,  I  conceive,  highly  improper  for  ignorant  persons  to  employ  it;  yet  it  is 
extensively  used  by  cooks  and  confectioners  for  flavoring  !* 

ORDER  II.    FLfcStlY  FRUITS. 

A  very  considerable  number  of  fleshy  of  succulent  fruits  are  employed  as  food.  Of 
these,  however,  it  is  intended  to  notice  only  such  as  are  in  most  frequent  use  in  this 
country. 

1.  DRUPACEOUS  oil  STONE  FRUITS.— These  are  called  by  botanists  firtipes.  They  con- 
tain one  or  two  seeds  (popularly  termed  the  kernels)  contained  in  a  bony  endocarp,  com- 
monly called  the  stone,  on  the  outside  of  which'  is  a  soft  fleshy  mesocarp  or  sarcocarp, 
(usually  known  as  the  pulp  ot  Jiesh  of  the  fruit,)  which  is  covered  by  the  membranous' 
epicarp,  (generally  denominated  the  skin.) 

From  the  Almond  tribe  are  obtained  several  drupes  in  common  use  in  England.  Such 
are  the  Peach,  the  Nectarine,  the  Apricot,  the  Plum,  and  the  Cherry.  They  are  usually 
regarded  as  difficult  of  digestion ;  and  the  popular  opinion  is  probably  the  correct  one, 
for  Dr.  Beaumont  found  that  from  six  to  ten  hours  were  required  for  the  artificial  diges- 
tion of  peaches.  They  are  sometimes  eaten  with  the  view  to  open  the  bowels.  When 
taken  too  freely  they  are  apt  to  disorder  the  digestive  organs,  and  to  occasion  griping  and 
relaxation. 

The  following  is  the  composition  of  several  of  these  fruits,  according  to  Berard.f 

COMPOSITION  OF  DRUPACEOUS  FRUITS  OF  THE  ALMOND  TRIBE. 


Nitrogenous  matter     . 
Coloring  matter  .     .     . 
T>i<rnine       - 

APRICOT. 

GREEN  GAGE 
(RETNE  CLAUDE.) 

PEACH  (D'ETE.) 

CHERRIES 
(ROYALFS.) 

Unripe.      Ripe. 

Unripe. 

Ripe. 

Unripe. 

Ripe. 

Unripe. 

Ripe. 

0-76 
0-04 
3-61 
4-10 
traces 
2.70 

very  em  all 
quantity 

89-39 

0-17 

(HO 
1-86 
,  5-12 
16-48 
1-80 
very  small 
quantity 
74-87 

0-45 
0-03 
1-26 
5-53 
17-71 
0-45 
traces 
74-57 

0-28 
0-08 
I'll 
2-06 

24-81 
0-56 
traces 
71-10 

0-41 
0-27 
8*01 

4-22 

0-63 
1-07 
0-08 
90-31 

0-93 

1-21 

4-85 
11-61 
1-10 
0-06 
80-24 

0-21 
0-05 
2-44 
6-01 
1-12 
1-75 
0-14 
88-23 

0-57 

1-12 
3-23 
18-12 
2-01 

o-io 

74-85 

Gum       ...... 

Malic  acid       .... 
Lime      .    .    ,    . 

Water                      .         : 

100-60 

1CO-40 

100-00 

100-00 

100-00 

100-00 

100-00 

100-00 

*  The  Bitter  Almond  forms  the  basis  cf  the  delicious  cordial  called  Creme  de  Noyeau. 

The  following  embrace  the  principal  >  arieties  of  the  Almond  which  are  now  cultivated  : 

Sweet  Soft-shelled  Almond,  (Amand  -.  Sultan  a  Coque  Tendre  ;)  Amande  Princesse,  ou  des  Dames  ;  Amande 
Sultan,  Amande  Pistache;  Bitter  Alrmn'l,  (Amande  Amere;}  Bitter  Soft-shelled  Almond,  (Amande  Amere 
a  Coque  Tendre  ;')  Bitter  Hard-shclkd  Almond,  (Amande  Amere  a  Coque  Dure ;)  Peach  Almond,  (Amande 
Pecher;)  Great  Flowering  Almond ;  Dwarf  Double  Flowering  Almond. 

The  varieties  of  Almond  are  propagated  by  inoculation  either  on  the  native  stocks  of  the  common 
Almond,  or  on  stocks  of  the  peach  or  plum.  They  are  equally  as  hardy  as  the  peach,  and  flourish 
equally  as  well  in  this  country.  — L. 

t  Ann.  de  Chirnte  et  de  Physique.     1821. 


166  COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 


In  these  analyses,  however,  no  mention  i&  made  of  vegetable  jelly,  (pectine  or  pectic 
acid,)  which,  as  I  have  before  stated,  (see  p.  09,)  is  always  a  constituent  of  these  fruits  ; 
but  it  is  probable  that,  in  the  above  table,  it  is  included  under  the  denomination  of  gum. 

The  highly  palatable  flesh  of  the  Peach  is  slightly  nutritious  from  the  nitrogenous  mat- 
ter, sugar,  gum,  and  pectine,  which  it  contains,  while  the  malic  acid  renders  it  cooling. 
Both  in  the  fresh  and  preserved  state  it  is  employed  as  a  delicious  dessert.  Its  use  is 
objectionable  in  gouty  persons,  and  in  those  whose  bowels  are  easily  disordered.  When 
stewed  with  sugar  it  may  be  given  as  a  mild  laxative  to  convalescents.* 

The  Nectarine  differs  from  the  Peach  in  having  a  smooth  skin.  This  trivial  distinction 
has  led  many  botanists  to  regard  it  as  a  distinct  species. 

Gardeners  cultivate  several  hundred  sorts  of  the  Plum,  (Prunus  damestica.)  De  Can- 
dolle  admits  the  following  as  distinct  varieties  :f — 

o,  Armenioitdes,  including  the  Mirabdle  Plum. 

0.  Claudiana,  including  the  Green  Gage. 

y.  Myrobalana,  including  the  Mijrobalan  Plum. 

0.  Damascena,  including  the  Damask  Plum, 
t.  T\tronen-iis,  including  the  Orleans  Plum. 
5-  Juliuna,  including  the  Officinal  Prune. 

17.  Cnllinriiii-ii,  incluaing  the  St.  CaUiarine  Plum. 

8.  Aubertiana,  including  the  Magnun  Bonum,  or  Mogul  Plum. 

1.  Prunealina,  including  the  Damson. 

Dried  plums,  called  prunes,  are  prepared  in  warm  countries  by  drying  the  plums  on 
hurdles  by  solar  heat ;  but  in  colder  climates  artificial  heat  is  employed.  In  France  both 
methods  are  adopted  ;  the  fruit  being  exposed  to  the  heat  of  an  oven,  and  to  that  of  the 
sun,  on  alternate  days.  Table  prunes  are  prepared  from  the  larger  kinds  of  plum — as  the 
Saint  Catharine  and  the  Reine-Claude,  (Green  Gage :)  Medicinal  Prunes  from  the  St 
Julien.  The  former  has  an  agreeable,  very  sweet  taste  ;  the  latter  are  somewhat  austere. 
They,  are  principally  imported  from  Bordeaux.  The  edible  part  is  the  pulp. 

Fresh  ripe  plums,  taken  in  moderate  quantity,  are  wholesome  and  nutritive ;  but  wh»-n 
eaten  freely  are  apt  to  disorder  the  bowels  ;  an  effect  more  readily  excited  by  the  unripe 
fruit.!  The  medicinal  prune  is  slightly  laxative.  The  finer  kinds  of  plums  are  em  i 
at  the  table  as  a  delicious  dessert:  the  inferior  qualities  are  used  in  pie's,  tarts,  conserves, 
and  sweetmeats.  The  larger  prunes  are  eaten  at  table  as  a  dessert.  The  medicinal 
prunes  form  an  agreeable  and  mild  laxative  for  children,  and  during  convalescence  from 
frebrile  and  inflammatory  disorders. 

The  Cherry  possesses  dietetical  properties  similar  to  those  of  the  plum.  In  the  unripe 
stati>  it  readily  disorders  the  bowels. 

The  stones  of  all  these  drupaceous  fruits  should  not  be  swallowed,  as  they  are  apt  to 

*  Appendix,  9. 

f  K'-nrick,  in  his  "  New  American  Orchardist,"  enumerates  about  seventy  varieties  of  plum,  which 
are  cultivated  in  Europe  and  this  country,  of  which  fifty-two  are  produced  here.  Though  the  plum  is 
generally  considered  a  native  of  Asia,  it  is  yet  indigenous  to  North  America,  and  is  found  from  Canada  to 
Mexico.  The  one  best  known,  perhaps,  is  the  Red  or  Yellow  Plum,  (Prunus  Americana,)  of  a  reddi.-h- 
orange  when  ripe,  with  a  juicy  yellow  pulp,  and  a  thick  tough  skin,  of  from  half  an  inch  to  an  inch  in 
diameter.  The  Chickasau?  Plum  is  the  domesticated  fruit  of  the  Prunus  Chicasa,  (va.  Normalis  of 
Michaux,)  a  native  of  the  country  west  of  the  Mississippi,  but  extensively  cultivated  in  the  southwest- 
ern states  and  Arkansas,  and  sometimes  in  the  northern  states.  The  fruit  is  half  an  inch  or  more  in 
diameter,  with  a  thin  skin  and  a  tender  pulp,  and  pleasant  to  the  faste.  The  Beach  Plum  is  the  fruit 
of  the  Prunus  Marilima,  (fVang,)\s  about  half  an  inch  in  diameter,  and  often  pretty  wtll  flavored,  but 
only  arrives  to  perfection  on  a  warm  sandy  beach.— [Torrey  &  Gray's  Flora.]— L. 

*  Unripe  plums  are  probably  more  unwholesome  than  any.  other  kind  of  unripe  fru'u,  often  causing 
bowel  complaint?,  dysentery,  &c.     In  our  cities  they  occasion  much  sickness,  especially  among  chil- 
dren, in  the  summer  and  autumnal  months. — L. 


POMACEOUS  FRUITS. 


167 


cause  intestinal  obstruction.  I  have  known  fatal  enteritic  inflammation  produced  by  the 
accumulation  of  cherry-stones  in  the  appendix  caeci.  The  kernels  or  seeds  yield,  like  the 
almond,  prussic  acid.* 

The  Glue  is  a  drupaceous  fruit,  which,  when  ripe,  is  remarkable  for  its  sarcocarp 
abounding  in  a  bland  fixed  cil,  (see  Olive  Oil,  p.  85-86.)  Olives  farcies  d  I'huile  are  some- 
times imported.  The  preserved  or  pickled  oliv?s,  admired  by  most  persons  as  a  dessert, 
are  the  green  unripe  fruit,  deprived  of  part  of  their  bitterness  by  soaking  them  in  water, 
and  then  preserved  in  an  aromatized  solution  of  salt.  Several  varieties  are  met  with  in 
commerce,  but  the  most  common  is  the  small  French  olive  and  the  large  Spajiish  olive. 
Olives  d  la  picholine  have  been  soaked  in  a  solution  of  lime  or  alkali.  Pickled  olives  are 
employed  at  the  table  to  excite  the  appetite  for,  as  well  as  to  improve  the  flavor  of,  wine. 
They  are  also  used  in  some  sauces.  •  • 

The  Dale  is  a  drupaceous  fruit,  of  vast  importance  in  the  East,  for  a  considerable  por- 
tion of  the  inhabitants  of  Egypt,  Arabia,  and  Persia,  subsist  in  great  part  on  it.  It  is  the 
produce  of  the  date  palm,  or  Ph&Jiix  dactylifera  of  botanists.  Dates  have  been  recently 
analyzed  by  Reinsch,f  who  gives  the  following  as  their  constituents : — 

COMPOSITION  OF  DATES. 

Kernel 


Flesh. 

Uncryetallizable  sugar        .        .        .  58*0 

Pectin 8-9 

Pectinaceous  gum        .        .        .        .  3-4 

Bassorine 41 

Fatty  oil 0-2 

Wax 01 

Fibre,  with  traces  of  coloring  matter)  9.« 

and  tannic  acid     .        .        .        .  \ 

Water 24-0 

101-0 


Fibre     

Gummy  matter  , 

Gum  and  mucus 

Epidermis  (albumen) 

An  astringent  acid  (catechuic  1) 

Stearine 

Oleine 

Water 


25 
0-6 
7-1 

0-5 

0-3 

13-0 


100.0 


It  is  obvious  from  this  analysis  that  sugar  is  the  leading  alimentary  constituent  of  this 
fruit.     In  this  country  dates  are  used  principally  as  condiments. 

2.  POMACEOUS  FRUITS  OR  APPLES. — These  are  the  produce  of  the  sub-order  Pomecc  of 
Rosaceous  plants.  The  edible  or  pulpy  portion  of  the  fruit  is  the  sarcocarp  or  fleshy 
mesocarp,  which  is  covered  on  the  outside  by  a  membranous  epicarp,  (commonly  called 
the  peel  or  skin,}  and  lined  on  the  inner  side  by  a  cartilaginous  endocarp  (the  core)  en- 
closing the  seed.  Apples,  Pears,  and  Quinces,  are  familiar  examples  of  this  division  of 
fruits.  The  following  are  the  results  of  Berard's  analysis  of  the  Jargonelle  pear: — 
COMPOSITION  OF  JARGONELLE,  (CUISSE-MADAME.) 


UNRIPE. 

RIPE. 

ROTTEN. 

Nitrogenous  matter 
Coloring  matter        .... 

Lignine     
Gum          

0-03 
0-08 

3-80 
3-17 
6-45 

0-21 

o-oi 

2-19 
2-07 
11-52 

0-301 
resin  solo 
uble  in    >  0-058 
alcohol   ) 
2-534 
3-400 
11*417 

0*11 

0-08 

0-786 

Lime 
Water                                  .        .        . 

0-03 

86-28 

0-04 

8388 

traces 
81500 

100-00 

100-00 

99-99 

*  The  principal  cherries  indigenous  to  our  country  are  the  Sand  Cherry,  (Cerasus pumila,)  Wild  Red 
Cherry,  or  Bird  Cherry,  (Cerams  Pennsylvania,)  Choke  Cherry,  (Cerasus  Virginiana,)  Wild  Cherry, 
Black  Cherry,  (C.  serolina.)  Besides  these,  there  is  the  fruit  of  the  C.  ilidfolius,  C.  demissa,  C.  emar- 
ginata,  C.  umbellaia,  and  probably  a  few  others. — L. 

f  Pharmaceutischfs  CentraLBlatt  fiir  1840,  p.  400. 


1G8 


COMPOUND  ALIMENTS.. 


No  mention  is  here  made  of  vegetable  jelly,  (pectina  or  pectic  acid,)  which  the  author 
included,  I  presume,  under  the  head  of  gum. 

Apples  and  Pears  are  very  agreeable  fruits,  but  they  are  not  in  general  regarded  as  easy 
of  digestion  ;  and  apples,  being  of  a  much  firmer  textu  :e,  are  believed  to  be  more  slowly 
digested  than  pears.  "In  the  case  of  a  dyspeptic  stomach,"  says  Dr.  Cullen,  "I  have 
known  apples,  a  long  time  after  they  had  been  taken  down,  brought  up  again  by  eructa- 
tion in  the  same  masses  they  had  been  swallowed,  and  that  even  after  two  days."  Dr. 
Beaumont's  experiment?,  however,  by  no  means  confirm  ordinary  experience,  for  they 
appear  to  show  that  apples,  even  when  raw,  are  readily  digestible. 

DIGESTIBILITY  OF  APPLES. 


ARTICLES 
OF 
DIET. 

MEAN  TIME  OF  CHYMIFICATION. 

IN   STOMACH. 

IN    PHIALS. 

Preparation. 

II.     M. 

Preparation. 

H.    M. 

Apples,  sweet,  mellow 
"        sour,  mellow 
"        sour,  hard  . 
Apple  dumpling.    . 

Rnw 
Boiled 

1     30 
2      0 
2    50 
3      0 

Masticated 
Masticated 
Entire  pieces 

6    45 

s    :<(, 
18      0 

Both  apples  and  pears  are  occasionally  eaten  to  move  the  bowels.  Roasted  apples  are 
much  easier  of  digestion  than  raw  apples.  They  gently  promote  relaxation  of  bowels ; 
and  are,  therefore,  used  by  persons  troubled  with  habitual  constipation.* 

The  Quince  is  not  eatable  in  its  raw  state ;  but  stewed  in  pies  or  tarts,  along  with  ap- 
ples, it  is  much  esteemed.  The  expressed  juice  is  cooling  and  astringent^  An  excellent 
marmalade  (see  p.  70)  and  syrup  are  prepared  from  the  quince  by  the  confectioner. 
Quince  seeds  abound  in  mucilage. 

3.  BACCATE  OR  BER.RIED  FRUITS.  Berries. — To  this  division  belong  the  Currant,  the 
Gooseberry,  the  Whortleberry,  the  Cranberry,  the  Elderberry,  and  the  Grape  ;  the  eatable 
part  of  which  is  the  pulp.  The  epicarp,  (commonly  called  skin  or  husk,)  and  the  seeds 

*  The  apple  is  also  a  native  of  the  East,  but  to  such  perfection  has  its  cultivation  been  brought  in  the 
United  States,  that  American  apples  are  considered  among  the  finest  in  the  world.  Those,  however, 
from  New  York  and  New  Jersey  are  the  most  prized,  and  among  the  last  the  Newtown  Pippin  is  much 
esteemed.  The  annual  export  of  apples  from  the  United  Stales,  as  estimated  from  an  avenge  of  four 
years,  ending  in  1837,  was  19.462  barrels,  valued  at  35,8Sf>  dollars.  Of  this  quantity.  .'i.-J.TT  barrels  were 
shipped  for  England  ;  6,782  were  sent  to  the  British  North  American  colonies ;  and  4,280  to  the  island 
of  Cuba.  The  value  of  the  products  of  the  orchard  (including  peaches)  in  the  United  States,  in  Hl<^ 
was  about.  8,000,000  of  dollars. 

Although  apples  are  very  generally  used  in  a  raw  state,  yet  we  have  much  d^ubt  as  to  their  being 
easily  d^ested,  especially  by  persons  of  weak  digestion.  Dr.  Bell  remarks  that  "the  apple  containing 
both  malic  and  acetic  acids,  with  some  sugar,  has  a  pleasant  and  refreshing  flavor,  and  to  persons  in 
health  constitutes  a  useful  addition  to  bread  or  other  farinaceous  food.  It  is  inimical  to  the  dyspeptic^ 
the  rheumatic,  the  gouty,  and  those  troubled  with  renal  and  cutaneous  disorders  ;  it  is  often  a  source  of 
serious,  sometimes  fatal,  disease  in  children  who  have  not  masticated  the  fruit.  suffii-icntly,  but  swallowed 
it  in  pieces  of  some  size.  Subjected  to  various  changes  by  roasting,  baking,  and  stowing,  and  the  addition 
of  sugar,  apples  acquire  more  nutritive  value,  and  when  eaten,  as  they  often  are,  with  milk  or  cream 
and  bread,  may  be  regarded  as  furnishing  a  meal  equal  to  the  subsequent  requirements  of  active  exer- 
cise, if  not  of  labor.  Duduit  tells  us  that  "one  third  part  of  boiled  apple  pulp,  baked  with  two  thirds  of 
flour,  and  properly  fermented  with  yeast  for  twelve  hours',  makes  a  very  good  bread,  full  (if  eyes,  and 
quite  palatable  and  light."-  L. 


GRAPES. 


169 


are  indigestible,  and  should  not  be  swallowed.  The  pulp,  when  freely  eaten,  s.ightly  re- 
laxes the  bowels.  In  the  unripe  state  these  fruits  readily  disorder  the  alimentary  canal, 
and  occasion  griping. 

The  juice  of  Red  Currants  has,  according  to  Proust,  the  following  composition  : — 

COMPOSITION  OF  RED  CURRANT  JUICE. 


Citric  Acid, 
Malic  Acid, 
Sugar, 


Vegetable  Jelly, 

Gum, 

Extractive. 


A 


These  fruits  are  very  agreeable  and  cooling,  and  are  eaten  both  raw  and  in  tarts, 
jelly  and  a  jam  are  prepared  from  them,  (see  p.  70-71.) 

The  constituents  of  Black  Currants  are  similar  to  those  of  red  currants,  with  the  ad- 
dition of  a  peculiar  volatile  principle  and  a  violet  coloring  matter.  A  jelly,  (see  p.  70,) 
a  jam,  (see  p.  71,)  a  paste,  and  ^ruil  lozenges,  are  made  from  them.  These,  different  pre- 
parations are  employed  in  febrile  and  inflammatory  cases,  and  are  in  particular  request 
in  hoarseness  and  affections  of  the  throat. 

Gooseberries  have  been  analyzed  by  Berard.     Their  composition  is  as  follows : — 

COMPOSITION  OF  GOOSEBERRIES. 


UNRIPE. 

RIPE. 

Nitrogenous  mattei 
Coloring  matter 
Lignine  and  seeds 

1-07 
0-03 

8-45 

0-86 

u 

8-01 

Gum 

1-36 

0-78 

Sugar      . 

0-52 

6-24 

Malic  acid 

1-80 

2-41 

Citric  acid 

0-12 

0-31 

Lime 

0-24 

0-29 

Water     . 

86-41 

81-10 

100-00 

100-00 

In  their  general  properties  they  agree  with  currants.  Their  husks  are  indigestible,  and 
should  not  be  swallowed.  In  the  unripe  state,  gooseberries  are  apt  to  gripe,  and  other- 
wise disturb  the  bowels. 

The  Cranberry  is  usually  eaten  when  baked ;  and  in  this  way  proves  an  agreeable, 
and,  in  general,  harmless  fruit. 

The  juice  of  the  Elderberry  contains  malic  acid,  a  little  citric  acid,  sugar,  pectin,  and 
coloring  matter.  The  inspissated  juice,  (elder  rob,}  diluted  with  water,  forms  a  cooling 
beverage  in  febrile  and  inflammatory  disorders.  The  berries  are  principally  employed 
in  the  preparation  of  elder  wine. 

The  Grape  is  one  of  the  most  valuable  and  esteemed  of  fruits.  Considered  with  regard 
to  shape  and  color,  the  different  varieties  may  be  thus  arranged : — 

1.  Round,  dark-red,  purple,  or  black  grapes. — This  division  includes  a  considerable  num- 
ber of  sorts.  The  grapes  from  which  port  wine*  is  procured  belong  to  this  division. 
The  black  Muscardine,  common  on  dwelling-houses  about  London,  come  under  this  head. 
The  most  remarkable  variety  of  this  division  is  the  black  Corinthian  grape,  which,  when 
dried,  constitutes  the  currant  of  the  grocer.  This  was  formerly  produced  at  Corinth, 
(whence  its  name,)  but  it  is  now  grown  at  Zante,  Cephalonia,  Patras,  &c.  At  Zante  the 
grapes  are  gathered  in  August,  disposed  in  couches  on  the  ground  to  dry,  cleaned,  and 
laid  up  in  magazines,  (called  seraglios,}  where  they  eventually  adhere  so  firmly  as  to 

*  In  September,  1842,  my  friend  Mr.  Gassiot,  of  the  firm  of  Martinez,  Gassiot  &  Co.,  of  Mark  lane, 
London,  showed  me  sixteen  sorts  of  grapes  which  had  been  sent  by  their  agent  at  Oporto  as  the  grapes 
yielding  port  wine.  They  were  all  round,  dark,  and  rather  small.  Those  numbered  "2"  and  "  16" 


170 


COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 


require  digging  out.  They  require  eight,  ten  or  fourteen  days  for  drying.  For  exporta- 
tion they  are  trod  in  barrels.  They  form  one  of  the  constituents  of  the  well-known 
English  dish,  plum  Bidding. 

2.  Oval,  dark-red,  purple,  or  black  grapes. — To  this  division  belong  the  black  and  purple 
Hamburgh  grapes. 

3.  Round  and  white  grapes. — Of  this  there  are  several  sorts. 

4.  Oval  and  while  grapes. — The  Portugal  grape  comes  under  this  division.     It  is  im- 
ported, packed  in  saw-dust,  and  contained  in  earthen  jars,  from  Portugal  and  Spain 
The  berries  are  large,  fleshy,  sweet,  and  slightly  acidulous.     They  keep  a  long  time  after 
they  have  ripened. 

5.  Red,  rose-colored,  grayish,  or  striped  grapes. — Of  this  there  are  several  sorts 

The  juice  of  both  unripe  and  ripe  grapes  has  been  examined  by  several  chemists.   The 
following  are  the  most  important  results  : — 

COMPOSITION  OF  GRAPE  JUICE. 


JUICE  OF  THE  UNRIPE  GRAPE. 

JUICE  OF  THE  RIPE  GRAPE. 

Proust. 

Extractive. 
Malic  acid,  a  little. 
Citric  acid,  much. 
Bitortrate  of  potash. 
Sulphate  of  potash. 
Sulphate  of  lime. 

1.  /)/•/*«/'/ 
from  the  • 
juice. 

2.  Filtered  , 
juice. 

Gdger. 

'Wax. 

Chlorophylle. 
Tannin. 
(ilutmous  matter. 
Tannin. 
Extractive. 
Sugar  (uncrystallizable.) 
Gallic  acid. 
Tartaric   acid  (free)  about 
1  12  per  cent 
.Mali.-  arid  (free)  about  2-19 
per  cent. 
Hitartrale  of  potash. 
Malate,  phosphate,   sulph- 
ate, and  muriate  of  lime. 

Proust. 

Extractive. 

Sugar  (granular  and 
uiK-rvstallizable.) 
Cum. 
Glutinous  matter. 
.Malic  acid,  a  little. 
Citric  acid,  a  little, 
(tartaric,   Bracon- 
not.) 
liitart  rate  of  potash. 

Berard. 

Odorous  matter. 
Suirar. 
Gum. 
Glutinous  matter. 
Malic  acid. 
Malate  of  lime. 
Bitartratf  of  potash. 
Supertnrtrate  of  lime. 

Unripe  Grape  juice. 

Ripe  Grape  juice. 

Ripe  Grape  juice. 

Juice  of  White  Grape  of  good  quality. 

The  composition  of  grape  sugar  (called  also  granular  sugar  or  glucose)  has 'been  already 
stated,  (see  p.  55.)  The  bitartrate  of  potash  contained  in  grape  juice  deposits,  along  with 
coloring  and  other  matters,  from  wine,  and  forms  what  are  termed  crude  tartar  or  argot, 

were  the  largest  berries,  and  also  formed  the  largest  bunches;  while  "7"  and  "  14"  were  the  smallest. 
I  subjoin  the  list  of  grapes,  with  the  names  and  remarks,  as  sent  by  Messrs.  Martinez  &  Gassiot's  Oporto 
agent : — 

"LIST    OF    THE   GRAPES,    AS    SHIPPED. 

.    Dark  colored  wine. 
.    Full  bodied. 

.    Good. 


No.  1.   Tintii  Fnmcisca 

2.  Tonriga       . 

3.  Tinta  amarclla  ) 
7.       "      Cdo  .  .    ) 

4.  "      grossa 

5.  Bastardo     . 

6.  Alvardhao  . 
8. 

9. 
10. 

11.  Souzdo Gives  the  darkest  colored,  but  in  general  ba(   wine 

12.  Donzdinho  do  Castdlo        ....     Very  little  color,  and  not  the  best  wine. 

13.  Tinta  da  Lameira       .....     Color  and  flavor. 

14.  Bastardeira Good  wine. 

15.  Mort'tfo 

16.  Noveira Gives  abundance  of  wine,  but  of  the  worst  quality 

has  the  name  of  the  '  Poor  Man's  Wine.'  " 


).  Mourisco  preto 
).  Castittoa. 


Give  abundance,  but  not  of  the  best. 

Rich. 

Good  flavor,  but  little  cck;r. 

Body  and  flavor. 


GRAPES.  171 


and  the  crust  of  wine.  Crude  tartar,  when  purified  and  deprived  of  coloring  matter, 
constitutes  cream  of  tartar,  from  which  tarlaric  acid  is  obtained,  (see  p.  74.) 

Grapes  when  dried  are  called  Raisins.  In  Granada  the  finest  kinds  of  raisins,  viz.  the 
Muscatels  and  the  Blooms,  are  sun-dried ;  while  the  Lexias  (so  called  from  the  liquor  in 
which  they  are  immersed,)  are  dipped  in  a  mixture  of  water,  ashes,  and  oil,  £  nd  after- 
wards sun-dried.  By  this  treatment  the  juice  exudes  arid  candies  on  the  fruit.  The 
raisins  of  Valentia  are  prepared  by  steeping  them  in  boiling  water,  to  which  a  lye  of  vine 
stems  has  been  added.  The  alkaline  solution  serves  to  remove  the  waxy  coat  which 
checks  the  drying  of  the  berry.  The  varieties  of  raisins  known  in  the  market  are  dis- 
tinguished partly  from  their  place  of  growth,  as  Valentias  and  Smyrnas ;  partly  from  the 
variety  of  grape  from  which  they  are  prepared,  as  Sultanas,  Blooms,  and  Muscatels ;  and 
partly  from  the  mode  of  curing  them,  as  Raisins  of  the  Sun.  Muscatels  are  the  finest : 
Sultanas  are  stoneless.  The  raisins  of  Malaga  are  of  three  kinds  :  1st,  Muscatels  ;  2dly, 
Sun  or  Bloom  Raisins;  and  3dly,  Lexia  Raisins. 

The  small  or  Corinthian  raisins,  (called,  by  grocers,  currants,)  have  been  already  no- 
ticed, (see  p.  169.) 

Fresh  grapes,  when  ripe,  are  wholesome,  nutritious,  refrigerant,  and,  when  taken  freely, 
diuretic  and  laxative ;  but  the  skin  and  the  seeds  are  indigestible,  and  should  be  rejected. 
In  the  alvine  discharges  of  children  who  have  eaten  plum  pudding,  the  currants  (black 
Corinthian  raisin)  will  be  found  almost  entirely  undigested.  "I  think  we  may  assert," 
says  Dr.  Cullen,  "that  grapes  which  contain  a  large  quantity  of  sugar,  are,  if  taken  with- 
out their  husks,  the  safest  and  most  nutritive  of  summer  fruits."  They  are  used  at  table 
as  a  dessert,  and  in  febrile  and  inflammatory  complaints  as  a  very  agreeable  fruit,  which 
allays  thirst,  and  checks  febrile  heat.  In  the  inflammatory  form  of  dyspepsia,  (called  by 
Sir  James  Clark  and  others  gastritic  dyspepsia,)  and  in  pulmonary  affections,  ripe  grapes 
are  eaten  in  considerable  quantities,  in  Switzerland  and  other  parts  of  the  continent,  occa- 
sionally with  considerable  benefit,  and  forming  what  is  called  the  "  Cure  de  Raisins."  It 
deserves  consideration  how  far  the  bitartrate  of  potash,  contained  in  grapes,  may  con- 
tribute to  the  beneficial  effect.  For  this  salt,  like  the  other  vegetable  alkaline  salts,  is  con- 
verted, in  the  system,  into  an  alkaline  carbonate  at  the  expense  of  atmospheric  oxygen, 
(see  p.  15.)  In  tubercular  phthisis  the  system  manifests  no  want,  but  rather  redundancy, 
of  oxygen.  May  not  the  bitartrate,  in  such  cases,  prove  useful  by  appropriating  to  itself 
a  portion  of  oxygen  ]  If  so,  in  bronchitis  with  a  purple  tint  the  same  treatment  would 
prove  injurious,  as  there  is  a  manifest  deficiency  of  oxygen  in  the  system.* 

Raisins  are  somewhat  more  nutritive  and  less  refrigerant  than  fresh  grapes ;  for  they 
abound  more  in  sugar  and  less  in  acid.  If  eaten  freely  they  are  apt  to  disorder  the  di- 
gestive organs  and  cause  flatulence.  They  are  employed  at  the  table  as  a  dessert,  and 
are  used  in  various  articles  of  pastry.f 

4.  THE  ORANGE  OR  AURANTIACEOUS  FRUITS. — These  fruits,  called  by  botanists  the 
Hesperidium  or  Aurantium,  are  the  produce  of  the  genus  Citrus:  they  are  the  Orange, 
the  Lemon,  the  Litne,  the  Citron,  and  the  Shaddock.  Their  rind  is  leathery  or  spongy  : 
the  external  portion,  ca.\\edjlavedo  or  zeste,  is  yellow,  and  contains  a  volatile  oil  lodged  in 
rounded  or  vesicular  receptacles.  The  acid  juice  of  the  fruit  is  lodged  in  small  pulpy 
bags,  which  are  readily  separated  from  each  other. 

*  Appendix,  10. 

t  Raisins  may  be  prepared  in  the  following  manner— Dip  the  ripe  clusters  of  grapes,  without  separa- 
ting them  from  the  branches,  in  a  lye  of  wood-ashes,  containing  a  small  portion  of  sweet  oil,  and  dry 
bv  exposure  to  the  sun. — L. 


172  COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 


Lemons,  are  imported  from  Spain,  Portugal,  Italy,  and  the  Azores.  Their  rind  contains 
a  volatile  oil,  (essence  of  lemons,)  a  bitter  principle,  (auranliin,')  and  a  peculiar  crystalline 
substance,  (hesperidin.)  It  is  a  grateful  aromatic  and  stomachic,  and  is  used  as  a  flavor- 
ing substance.  Candied  lemon  peel  is  an  agreeable  stomachic,  and  is  employed  as  a  des- 
sert, and  in  confectionery.  Lemon  Juice  is  a  slightly  turbid,  very  sour  liquid,  with  a  grate- 
ful flavor.  Owing  to  the  mucilaginous  matter  which  it  contains,  it  readily  becomes 
mouldy  and  suffers  decomposition.  Its  constituents,  according  to  Proust,  are  as  follows  : — 

COMPOSITION  OF  LEMON  JUICE. 


Citric  acid. 
Malic  acid. 


Bitter  extractive. 
Water. 


Gum. 

The  relative  proportions  of  these  ingredients  vary  somewhat  according  to  the  degree 
of  ripeness  of  the  fruit.  One  fluid  ounce  (two  table-spoonfuls)  of  good  juice  is  equal  to 
thirty-two  grains  of  crystallized  citric  acid,  and  saturates  about  45$  grs.  of  bicarbonate  of 
potash.  Lemon  juice  furnishes  a  most  agreeable  and  refreshing  beverage,  and  proves 
refrigerant  and  anti-scorbutic.  It  may  be  either  added  to  barley  water,  or  mixed  with 
sugar  and  water  to  form  Lemonade.*  The  latter  may  be  extemporaneously  made,  by 
adding  two  lemons  sliced,  and  two  ounces  of  sugar,  to  two  pints  of  boiling  water,  and 
digesting  until  cold.  A  somewhat  similar  beverage  has  been  denominated  King's  Cup. 
These  acidulated  drinks  are  exceedingly  useful  for  allaying  thirst,  and  as  refrigerant*  in 
febrile  and  inflammatory  complaints,  and  in  hemorrhages.  In  the  latter  maladies  iced 
lemonade  is  to  be  preferred.  When  there  is  nausea  or  a  tendency  to  sickness,  effervescent 
lemonade  is  useful. 

Lemon  juice  has  long  been  justly  regarded  as  a  valuable  anti-scorbutic ;  but  on  account 
of  the  difficulty  of  preserving  it,  a  solution  of  crystallized  citric  acid  is  often  substituted. 
Experience,  however,  has  proved  that  it  is  inferior  to  the  recent  juice.  Kveii  the  con- 
centrated juice  is  not  equal  to  the  fresh  fruit.  Hence  Sir  Gilbert  Blane  suggested  that  the 
juice  should  be  preserved  by  the  addition  of  a  little  spirit,  without  the  employment  of 
heat ;  and  this  plan  is  usually  followed. 

Lemon  juice  is  not  an  infallible  specific  for  scurvy,  as  Sir  Gilbert  Blane  and  some  others 
have  supposed;  for  occasionally  the  malady  rages  despite  of  the  copious  use  of  it.f 

*  "  Lemonade,  as  a  beverage  in  putrid  diseases,  was  first  introduced  by  the  French  physicians  in  the 
beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century  ;  and  about  the  year  1660,  an  Italian,  from  Florence,  having 
learnt  the  process  of  freezing  confectionery,  conceived  the  happy  idea  of  converting  such  b< 
into  ice.  This  found  a  ready  sale,  and  was  the  occasion  of  so  great  an  increase  in  the  number  of 
sellers  of  lemonade,  that  in  the  year  1676  the  Limonadiers  of  Paris  were  formed  into  a  company,  and 
received  a  patent  from  government."  (Dr.  Paris,  Pharmacologia.) 

t  The  following  extract  from  Dr.  Johnson's  Medico-Chirurgical  Review,  for  1824,  serves  to  illustrate 
the  statement  in  the  text : — 

"  Lemon  Juice  in  Scurvy. — It  has  long  been  known  to  many  intelligent  observers  that  salt  provisions 
are  not  the  only  cause  of  scurvy,  and  that  lemon  juice  is  by  no  means  an  infallible  cure  for  the  d 
however  induced,  notwithstanding  the  evidence  of  Sir  Gilbert  Blane,  so  positively  advance  d  to  the 
contrary.    In  support  of  our  position,  we  shall  here  bring  forward  an  abstract  from  an  official  docu- 
ment of  unquestionable  authenticity  and  recent  occurrence 

In  the  year  1822,  his  majesty's  ship  Leander  sailed  from  Trincomalee  for  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope, 
taking  on  board  the  mechanics  of  the  Dock  Yard  establishment,  then  reduced  on  the  island.  There 
were  also  embarked  twenty-six  invalids,  and  all  the  sick  that  could  be  removed  from  the  hospital. 
Tlu-.-r  invalids  and  sick  were  principally  affected  witn  chronic  hepatitis,  dysentery,  and  phihi^i?  pnl- 
monalis^  all  of  which  (even  some  who  were  expectorating  large  quantities  of  purulent  matter)  recov- 
ered on  the  passage  to  the  Cape.  This  good  fortune  was  counterbalanced  by  scurvy,  which  broke  out 
among  the  crew,  and  in  spite  of  large  quantities  of  lemon-juice  plentifully  administered,  in  conjunction 


CUCURBITACEOUS  FRUITS.  173 


The  properties  and  the  uses  of  the  Lime  are  similar  to  those  of  the  Lemon.  Lime 
juice  contains  the  same  ingredients  as  lemon  juice,  but  in  somewhat  different  proportions. 

The  Common  or  Sweet  Orange  is  a  most  delicious  fruit.  Its  juice  has  the  following 
composition : — 

COMPOSITION  OF  ORANGE  JUICE. 

Citric  Acid. 

Malic  Acid. 

Mucilage. 

Albumen.     4 

Sugar. 

Citrate  of  Lime. 

Water. 

The  proportions,  however,  vary  with  the  degree  of  ripeness  of  the  fruit.  The  juice  of 
the  ripe  orange  is  a  refreshing  and  grateful  beverage,  and  is  extensively  used  at  the  table. 
In  febrile  and  inflammatory  complaints  it  is  a  valuable  refrigerant;  allaying  thirst  and  di- 
minishing preternatural  heat.  The  orange,  when  unripe,  is  very  apt  to  cause  griping  ; 
but  when  quite  ripe,  is  rarely  inadmissible :  the  seeds  (called  pips)  and  rind,  however, 
should  be  rejected.  Orange  peel  is  used  as  a  flavoring  agent.  It  is  an  agreeable  sto 
machic. 

The  Citron  is  seldom  brought  to  the  table  in  the  raw  state,  but  it  yields  some  excellent 
preserves  and  sweetmeats.  The  juice  is  employed  to  flavor  punch  and  negus.  It  forms, 
with  sugar  and  water,  a  refreshing  refrigerant  beverage.  Candied  Citron  peel  is  a  favor- 
ite condiment  and  sweetmeat. 

The  Seville  Orange  has  a  rough,  sour,  and  somewhat  bitter  juice,  which  is  used  by  the 
cook  to  flavor  jellies,  and  for  other  purposes.  The  peel  of  the  Seville  orange,  and  also 
the  small  dried  green  fruits  (Orangetles  or  Curagoa  Oranges)  of  both  the  Seville  and  Sweet 
oranges,  are  employed  for  flavoring  the  liqueur  termed  Curagoa  (p.  80)  and  other  sub- 
stances. Candied  orange  peel  is  used  as  a  condiment 

5.  CUCURBITACEOUS  FRUITS  ;  PEPONES  ;  GOURDS. — Those  cucurbitaceous  fruits  which 
are  employed  for  alimentary  purposes  contain  a  pulpy,  aqueous,  sweet  or  somewhat 
acidulous,  refreshing  flesh,  which,  though  agreeable  to  the  palate,  is  difficult  of  digestion, 
and  when  eaten  freely,  relaxes  the  bowels,  and  sometimes  occasions  griping  pain.  It 
yields  but  little  nutritive  matter,  and  readily  disagrees  with  the  dyspeptic.  Pepper  is 
eaten  with  several  of  them  with  the  view  of  assisting  their  digestion,  and  preventing  any 
injurious  effect  on  the  stomach. 

The  Cucumber  is  the  most  commonly  employed,  and,  therefore,  the  best  known  fruit  of 
this  order.  Its  constituents,  according  to  John,  are  as  follows : — 


with  every  other  antiscorbutic  which  the  ship  could  produce,  spread  to  an  alarming  extent,  and  in  one 
case  proved  fatal.  Had  they  not  reached  the  Cape  at  the  time  they  did,  the  Leander  would  have  pre- 
sented as  deplorable  a  spectacle  as  the  Anson  [Centurion,]  at  Juan  Fernandez,  notwithstanding  the 
supposed  infallible  specific,  lemon  juice,  which,  in  no  instance,  on  board  the  Leander,  had  the  slightest 
effect  in  even  checking  the  ravages  of  the  scurvy.  Immediately  the  ship  reached  the  Cap>?,  and  the 
crew  got  plenty  of  animal  food  in  conjunction  with  vegetables,  they  rapidly  recovered,  (see  Mr.  Bamp- 
field's  remarks  on  the  subject,  in  his  valuable  work  on  Tropical  Dysentery.)  Specimens  of  the  lemon 
juice  used  were  transmitted  to  the  Victualling  Board,  and  carefully  analyzed  in  London.  It  was 
found  to  be  perfectly  good."—  [Scurvy  is  generally  caused  by  a  close  humid  atmosphere,  in  connection 
\vi  h  faulty  vegetable  aliment.  If  a  ship  is  kept  dry  and  well  ventilated,  and  furnished  with  good  wa- 
tei,  a  diet  consisting  chiefly  of  salt  provisions  will  not  produce  scurvy,  especially  if  the  crew  be  sup- 
plied with  good  biscuit,  and  a  small  allowance  of  peas  and  beans,  with  molasses  and  vinegar.  It  is  a 
mistaken  notion  that  vegetable  acids  will  cure  or  even  prevent  scurvy,  if  the  above  precautions  are 
neglected.]— L. 


174 


COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 


COMPOSITION  OF  THE  GREEN  CUCUMBER. 


The  Peeled  Fruit. 

Sugar  and  extractive     .     .     . 

Chlorophylle 

Odorous  matter 

Fungus-like  membrane  } 
(hgnin  ?)  with  phos-  > 
phate  of  lime  .  .  ) 

Soluble  albumen       .     . 

Mucus  wilh  free  phos-'j 
plioric  acid,  an  arnmo- 
niacal  salt,  malate, 
phosphate,  sulphate, 
and  muriate  of  potash, 
and  phosphate  of  lime 
and  iron  .  . 

Water    .... 


1-66 
0-04 


J 


0-53 
0-13 

0.50 

97-14 
100-00 


The  Fresh  Peel. 

Solid  matters  (similar 
those  of  the  peeled  fruit, 
but  containing  much  fun- 
gus-like matter) 

Water  .... 


15 

85 
100 


In  its  raw  state  the  cucumber  is  slowly,  and  with  difficulty,  digested,  and  is  usually  eaten 
with  condiments  (pepper,  vinegar,  and  oil)  as  a  salad  ;  but  its  employment  should  be 
carefully  avoided  by  dyspeptics.  When  stewed  it  forms  a  light  and  wholesome  food. 
Young  cucumbers,  (called  gherkins,)  as  well  as  the  full-grown  fruits,  are  eaten  as  condi- 
ments, when  pickled. 

The  Melon,  when  in  perfection,  is  a  very  delicious  fruit     The  Cantaloupe  variety  was 
examined  by  Payen,*  who  obtained  the  following  results  : — 

COMPOSITION  OF  THE  CANTALOUPE  MELON. 

Flesh  of  the  Melon. 
Crystallizable  sugar          1-5 
Peclic  acid      .     .     .     traces 
Uncrystallizable    su-  " 

gar 
Vegetable  albumen 


(Flesh 


f  Juice     .     .     . 
1  Do.  in  the  pulp 
alp,  w 


4629 


JOO  parts 

of 
Melon.      ; 


f  Fibrous  pulp,  washed  and 

dried 0-57 


Internal 
portion 


[  Rind 


{Juice    around    the 

seeds 6-97 

Fresh  seeds 1-54 

Fibres       0-19 

.  44-44 


100-00 


Mucilage 

Free  acid 

Saponifiable  fat 

Nitrogenous   matter 

Culorin.tr  matter 

Aromatic  matter 

Starch 

Lignin 

Salts 

Water 


100-0 


The  melon,  like  other  cucurbitaceous  fruits,  is  very  apt  to  disagree  with  delicate  sto- 
machs, and,  to  obviate  this,  is  usually  eaten  with  salt  and  pepper,  and  sometimes  with 
sugar. 

The  Water  Melon  possesses  similar  properties  to  tne  melon.  The  Vegetable  Marrow, 
when  cooked  by  boiling,  forms  a  very  agreeable  and  wholesome  article  of  food.  The 
Pumpkin  (Pompiori)  agrees  with  the  other  cucurbitaceous  fruits  in  its  alimentary  qualities. 

G.  LEGUMINOUS  FRUITS;  Legumes  or  Pods. — The  pulpy  mesocarp  orsarcocarp  of  the 
Tamarind  possesses  alimentary  properties.  Its  composition,  according  to  Vauquelin,  is 
as  follows : — 


COMPOSITION  OF  TAMARINDS. 


Citric  acid 
Tartaric  acid     . 
Malic  acid 
Bitartrate  of  potash 
Sugar 


9-40 
1-55 
0-45 
325 
12-5 


*  Journal  d>.  Chimie  Mid.  t.  iii.  p.  15.  1827. 


FIGS— MULBERRIES.  175 


Gum 4-7 

Vegetable  jelly  (pectine) 6-25 

Parenchyma  (lignine) 34-35 

Water 27-55 

100-00 

Tamarind  pulp  is  slightly  nutritive.     It  allays  thirst,  diminishes  febrile  heat,  and  when 
eaten  freely  proves  laxative.     It  is  adapted  for  febrile  and  inflammatory  cases  ;  and  is 
sometimes  employed  to  form  whey,  (see  Tamarind  Whey,  p.  124.)     The  East  Indian     '' 
tamarind  has  a  much  longer  pod  than  the  West  Indian  fruit. 

The  unripe  pods  of  Pfiaseolus  vulgaris,  (Kidney  bean  or  Haricot,)  commonly  called 
French  beans,  form,  when  boiled,  a  favorite  dish  ;  though  their  nutritive  properties  are  but 
slight.  They  are  also  eaten  as  a  pickle.  Scarlet  beans,  (the  unripe  pods  of  Phaseolus 
multiftorus,)  when  boiled,  are  also  brought  to  table,  and  greatly  resemble  the  French  bean, 
to  which  they  are  preferred  by  many. 

7.  SYCONUS. — The  Fig  is  a  familiar  illustration  of  the  collective  fruit  called  by  botanists 
the  Syconus.  It  consists  of  a  pulpy  or  fleshy  pear-shaped  receptacle,  within  which  are 
many  seed-like  bodies,  which  are  the  fruits  (achenia)  properly  so  called.  In  the  green  or 
unripe  state  figs  contain  an  acrid  bitter  juice ;  but  as  they  ripen,  this  disappears,  and  is 
replaced  by  sugar ;  and  in  this  state  they  form  an  agreeable  and  wholesome  food.  The 
figs,  which  are  imported,  have  been  dried  in  the  sun  or  in  ovens,  are  compressed,  covered 
with  a  whitish  saccharine  efflorescence,  and  have  an  agreeable  though  peculiar  odor,  and 
sweet  taste.  In  this  state  if  freely  eaten  they  are  apt  to  produce  disorder  of  the  stomach 
and  bowels,  and  occasion  flatulence,  griping,  and  slight  relaxation  of  bowels,  especially 
in  children.  Their  composition  is  as  follows  : — 

COMPOSITION  OF  FIGS. 


Granular  sugar  (glucose) 

Fatty  matter 

Extractive  with  chloride  of  calcium 
Gurn  with  phosphoric  acid 
Woody  fibre  and  achenia 


62-5 
0-9 
0-4 
5-2 

Water      .        .        .        .        .......        16-0 

100-0 

In  eastern  countries  figs  are  eaten  as  food ;  but  here  they  are  taken  as  a  dessert  princi- 
pally. A  roasted  or  boiled  fig  is  a  popular  poultice  for  gum-boils. 

8.  SOROSIS. — The  Mulberry  belongs  to  this  order  of  fruits.  It  consists  of  the  female 
flowers,  become  fleshy  and  grown  together,  and  enclosing  a  dry  membranous  pericarp. 
Its  constituents  are  as  follows : — 


CONSTITUENTS  OF  MULBERRIES. 


Coloring  matter. 

Pectine. 

Bitartrate  of  Potash. 


Sugar. 

Woody  fibre. 
Water. 


Mulberries  possess  very  slightly  nutritive  qualities.  They  check  thirst,  relieve  febrile 
heat,  and,  when  eaten  freely,  gently  relax  the  bowels. 

The  Pine-apple, — the  most  delicious  of  fruits, — is,  like  the  mulberry,  composed  of  ova- 
ria  and  floral  envelopes,  which  have  become  fleshy  and  grown  together.  It  is  a  native 
of  South  America  and  of  some  of  the  West  India  Islands,  and  is  now  naturalized  m 
several  of  the  hotter  parts  of  Asia  and  Africa.  Its  juice  was  examined  by  Adet,  who 
states  its  constituents  to  be  as  follows  : — 


176  COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 


CONSTITUENTS  OF  THE  JUICE  OF  THE  PINE-APPLE. 


Peculiar  Aroma. 

Sugar. 

Gum. 


Malic  Acid. 

Citric  and  Tartaric  Acids. 

Water. 


"Ripe  pine-apples,"  says  Dr.  Wright,*  "are  amongst  the  finest  of  our  fruits  in  the 
West  Indies,  and  are  relished  by  all  ranks  of  people,  especially  sick  of  acute  diseases, 
dysenteries?,  &c.  They  have  a  detersive  quality,  and  are  better  fitted  to  cleanse  the 
mouth  and  gums  than  any  gargle  whatever.  Besides  being  eaten  raw,  they  are  often 
candied  with  sugar,  and  sent  home  as  presents."  The  same  authority  adds  that  they 
are  made  into  tarts  and  pickles.  I  have  before  stated  (see  p.  79)  that  they  are  used 
for  flavoring  rum. 

9.  ET./ERIO. — To  this  order  of  fruits  belong  the  Strawberry,  the  Raspberry,  and  the 
Blackberry. 

In  the  Strawberry,  the  seed-like  pericatps  are  dry,  but  are  placed  upon  a  fleshy  or  pulpy 
receptacle,  which  forms  the  juicy  or  succulent  part  of  the  fruit.  The  strawberry  consti- 
tutes one  of  the  most  delicious  of  our  summer  fruits.  The  following  are  the  constituents 
of  it  :— 

CONSTITUENTS  OF  THE  STAWBERRY. 


Peculiar  volatile  Aroma 

Sugar. 

Mucilage. 

Pectine. 


2S  *u  ( •«•*>•'"'•*• 


Woody  fibre. 
Pericarps. 


Water. 

Strawberries  contain  a  very  small  portion  only  of  nutritive  matter.  They  are  employed 
as  a  very  admired  dessert,  and  also  in  the  preparation  of  jellies  and  jams,  (se?  p  70.) 
The  grains  or  seed-like  pericarps  are  not  digestible,  and,  it  is  stated,  are  apt  to  excite 
intestinal  irritation.  The  late  Dr.  Armstrong  entertained  a  very  strong  opinion  of  the 
injurious  effects  of  these  grains,  and,  on  one  occasion,  in  which  I  met  him  in  consulta- 
tion, lie  directed  the  patient  to  suck  strawberries  through  muslin,  in  order  to  prevent  the 
grains  being  swallowed.  The  credm  frequently  taken  with  strawberries  is  objectionable 
for  dyspeptics. 

The  Raspberry  differs  in  several  respects  from  the  strawberry.  The  pericarps  (some- 
times called  drupes')  are  succulent  instead  of  dry ;  while  the  receptacle,  which  in  the 
strawberry  is  juicy,  is  in  the  raspberry  dry  and  spongy.  In  1838  this  fruit  was  analyzed 
by  Bley,  who  found  its  constituents  to  be  as  follows  : — 


CONSTITUENTS  OF  THE  RASPBERRY. 


Volatile  oil 
Citric  acid. 
Malic  acid. 


Red  coloring  matter. 

Mucus. 

Woody  fibre. 


Crystallizable,  fermentable  sugar. 

It  is  obvious,  however,  that  he  has  omitted  pectine,  which  is  a  well-known  constituent 
of  raspberries.  The  ashes  contained  carbonate,  phosphate,  and  muriate  of  potash,  car- 
bonate and  phosphate  of  lime  and  magnesia,  silica,  and  oxide  of  iron. 

The  raspberry  is  an  agreeable  acidulous  fruit,  containing  very  little  nourishment,  but 
rarely  disturbing  the  stomach.  If  eaten  freely  it  promotes  the  action  of  the  bowels.  Be- 
sides being  used  at  the  table  as  a  dessert,  it  is  employed  in  the  preparation  of  jellies, 
jams,  raspberry  vinegar,  (see  p.  70,)  and  creams.  The  latter  preparation  is  an  objec- 
tionable one  for  dyspeptics. 

*  Medicinal  Plant*  of  Jamaica. 


TURNIPS. 


177 


ORDER  III.— ROOTS,  SUBTERRANEOUS  STEMS,  AND  TUBERS. 

This  order  includes  the  Turnip,  the  Carrot,  the  Parsnip,  the  Beet,  the  Potato,  and  uve 
Jerusalem  Artichoke. 

Before  proceeding  to  notice  them  individually,  it  may  be  advantageous  to  give  a  tabu- 
lar view  of  their  relative  digestibility,  according  to  Dr.  Beaumont's  experiments  : — 

RELATIVE  DIGESTIBILITY  OF  TURNIPS,  PARSNIPS,  POTATOES,  CARROTS, 

AND  BEETS. 


MEAN  TIME  OF  CHYMIFICATION. 

ARTICLES  OF  DIET. 

IN   STOMACH. 

IN    PHIALS. 

Preparation. 

H.  M. 

Preparation. 

H.  M. 

Parsnips 

Boiled 

2    30 

Mashed 

6    45 

Potatoes,  Irish 

Roasted 

2    30 

u            it 

Baked 

2    30 

Carrot,  orange 

Boiled 

3     15 

Mashed 

6     15 

Turnips,  flat 

Boiled 

3    30 

Potatoes,  Irish 

Boiled 

3    30 

Mashed 

8    30 

Beets    . 

Boiled 

3    45 

Parsnips 
Parsnips 
Carrot,  orange 

Boiled 
Raw 

Entire  piece 
Entire  piece 
Entire  piece 

13    15 

18      0 
12    30 

a              u 

Raw 

Entire  piece 

17    15 

Potatoes,  Irish 

Entire  piece 

14      0 

The  Cruciferous  or  Siliquose  root  called  the  Turnip,  is,  on  account  of  the  large  propor- 
tion of  water  of  which  it  is  made  up,  but  slightly  nutritive.  By  drying  it  in  vacua,  at  230° 
F.,  Boussingault*  found  the  relative  proportion  of  solid  and  liquid  matters  which  it  con- 
tains to  be  as  follows : — 


QUANTITY  OF  SOLID  MATTER  IN  TURNIPS. 


Water 
Solid  matter 


92-5 
7-5 


Turnips  1000 

The  same  chemist  submitted  the  solid  or  dried  matter  of  turnips  to  ultimate  analysis, 
and  obtained  the  following  results  : — 

ULTIMATE  COMPOSITION  OF  THE  DRIED  TURNIP. 


Carbon 
Hydrogen 
Oxygen 
Nitrogen  . 
Ashes 


Dried  Turnip 


42C 
55 

423 
17 
7-6 


100-0 


The  juice  of  the  turnip  contains  two  nitrogenous  constituents,  viz.  vegetable  fibrine  and 
vegetable  albumen.  The  first  coagulates  spontaneously  on  standing, — the  second  is  after- 
wards coagulated  by  heat.  • 

The  turnip,  though  very  slightly  nutritive,  is  in  general  easily  digested ;  and  though  by 
some  it  is  reputed  flatulent,  I  have  never  seen  it  prove  so  when  it  has  been  well  boiled. 

The  Carrot  and  Parsnip  are  umbelliferous  roots  in  common  use.  They  contain  vege- 
ble  fibrine,  vegetable  albumen,  sugar,  and  volatile  oil.  The  following  are  the  constituents 
of  the  expressed  and  dried  juice  of  the  carrot : — 

*  Memoires  de  I' Academic  Royale  des  Sciences,  t.  xviii.     1842. 


12 


178  COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 


EXPRESSED  AND  DRIED  JUICE  OF  THE  CARROT. 

Fixed  oil,  with  some  volatile  oil .TO 

Red  crystalline  neutral  substanct  (carotin)  0'34 

Uncrystallizable  sugar,  with  som .»  starch  and  malic  acid  .        9371 

Albumen     ... 435 

Ashes  (alumina,  lime,  and  iron)         .  .          0'6U 

•     10000 

Both  the  carrot  and  the  parsnip  are  highly  nutritive ;  but  the  volatile  oil  which  they 
contain  renders  their  flavor  unpleasant  to  many,  and  causes  them  to  be  apt  to  disagree 
with  some  dyspeptics. 

The  Beet-root  is  the  product?  of  a  Chenepodiaceous  plant,  and  is  used  both  as  a  garnish 
and  a  salad. 

The  Jerusalem  Artichoke  is  the  tuber  of  *he  Helianthu?  tuoerosus.  It  is  in  use,  on  the 
continent,  as  a  substitute  for  the  potato,  fe  which  it  is  inferior  in  nutritive  power  as  well 
as  in  flavor.  In  taste  it  somewhat  resembles  the  bottom  of  the  Garden  Artichoke,  (Cynara 
Scolymus.) 

The  Potato,*  (Solanum  tuberosum,)  next  to  the  Cerealia,  is  the  most  important  and  val- 
uable of  the  esculent  vegetables.  For  its  introduction  into  England,  from  America,  we 
are  indebted  to  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

The  part  of  the  plant  which  is  used  as  food  is  the  tuber  attached  to  the  subterranean 
stem,  of  which,  in  fact,  it  may  be  regarded  as  a  part  in  a  state  of  excessive  development. 
It  is  provided  with  a  number  of  buds,  commonly  called  eyes,  which,  with  contiguous  por- 
tions of  the  potatoes,  are  used,  under  the  name  of  sets,  for  multiplying  the  ppe> 

When  examined  by  the  microscope  the  tissue  of  the  potato  is  found  to  consist  of  a  mass 
of  cells,  between  and  within  which  is  an  albuminous  liquor.  Each  cell  also  contains  about 
ten  or  twelve  starch  grains. 

Potatoes  have  been  repeatedly  subjected  to  chemical  examination;  but  the  most  im- 
portant investigations  are  those  of  Einhof,  Lampadius,  Vauquelin,  Otto,  Baup,  Michaelis, 
and  Boussingault.  The  last-mentioned  chemist  submitted  the  potato  to  ultimate  analysis,! 
and  obtained  the  following  results  : — 

ULTIMATE  ANALYSIS  OF  THE  POTATO. 


Water 

Solid  matter  dried  at  230°  F.  in 
vacuo  . 


Carbon   . 
Hydrogen 
Oxygen  . 
Nitrogen 
Ashes     . 


440 
5-8 

447 
15 
40 


Solid  matter  dried  at  230°  F.  in 
vacuo 100  0 


So  that  100  parts  of  the  Potato,  in  its  ordinary  state,  contain  the  following  substances  :  — 

Water    ....  .759 

Carbon  .....     10  604 


at  w  F- 

•  241 

Ashes  .....      09WOJ  - 

1000 

*  This  plant  is  sometimes  confounded  by  writers  with  the  Batatas  edulis,  the  Convolvulus  Batafns  of 
most  botanists,  whose  tuberous  roots  are  called  Sweet  Potatoes,  Spanish  Potatoes,  or  Batatas.  Th? 
latter  constitute  the  Potatoes  of  Shakespeare,  as  well  as  of  some  other  authors.  When  boiled  or  based 
they  form  a  wholesome  farinaceous  food,  which,  however,  is  slightly  laxative,  and  according  to  many 
writers,  aphrodisiac. 

t  Memoires  de  rAcademie  des  Sciences  dc  rinstitut  de  France,  t.  xviii.     1&42,  p.  345. 


POTATOES.  179 


From  this  analysis  we  learn  that  the  proportion  of  nitrogen  contained  in  the  potato  is 
very  small ;  but  it  is  still  smaller  in  potatoes  that  have  been  kept  for  some  time. 


100  parts  of 

Moisture. 

Nitrogen  in 
dried  substance. 

Nitrogen  in  un- 
dried  substance. 

Potato,  fresh 
Ditto,  kept  10  months 

79-4 

76'8 

1  80 
1  18 

037 
028 

From  these  statements  it  follows,  that  if  nitrogenized  principles  alone  contribute  to  the 
n  itritton  of  the  body,  the  nutritive  power  of  the'  potato  must  be  very  low ;  or,  in  other 
words,  its  nutritive  equivalent  must  be  very  high,  (see  p.  28  ;)  and  accordingly  both  Bous- 
singault  and  Liebig  have  endeavored  to  show  that  this  is  really  the  case.  Two  milch 
cows,  says  Boussingault,*  were  fed  with  a  quantity  of  potatoes  according  to  my  equiva- 
lents. They  always  consumed  their  rations,  and  had  they  been  fed  with  less  would  have 
been  insufficiently  nourished.  A  horse  may  be  kept  alive  by  feeding  it  with  potatoes,  ob- 
serves Liebig,f  but  life  thus  supported  is  a  gradual  starvation  ;  the  animal  increases  nei- 
ther in  size  nor  strength,  and  sinks  under  every  exertion. 

If  we  assume  that  all  the  nitrogenized  principles  of  the  potato  are  alimentary,  it  fol- 
lows that  butcher's  meat  is  about  104  times  as  nutritive  as  the  potato.  But  solanine, 
and  probably  other  constituents  of  the  potato,  are  nitrogenized  though  not  alimentary 
principles  ;  and  we  may,  therefore,  estimate  1  Ib.  of  butcher's  meat  as  being  equal,  in  nu- 
tritive power,  to  10i  Ibs.  of  potatoes. 

In  the  year  1840  some  experiments  were  made  on  the  effects  of  different  diets,' on  the 
prisoners  confined  in  the  Glasgow  Bridewell ;  and  the  following  extract  from  the  report^ 
of  the  inspectors  of  prisons,  deserves  to  be  noticed  here  in  connection  with  the  preceding 
observations  on  the  nutritive  powers  of  potatoes. 

"  Eighth  Diet. — Cost,  including  cooking,  Ifd. 

Breakfast. — 2  Ibs.  of  potatoes  boiled. 

Dinner. — 3  Ibs.  of  potatoes  boiled. 

Supper. — 1  Ib.  of  potatoes  boiled. 

A  class  of  ten  young  men  and  boys  was  put  on  this  diet.  All  had  been  in  confinement  for  short 
periods  only,  and  all  were  employed  at  light  work,  teazing  hair.  At  the  beginning  of  the  experiment 
eight  were  in  good  health,  and  two  in  indifferent  health ;  at  the  end,  the  eighth  continued  in  good  health, 
and  the  two  who  had  been  in  indifferent  health  had  improved.  There  was  on  an  average,  a  gain  in 
weight  of  nearly  85  Ibs.  per  prisoner,  the  greatest  gain  being  8?  Ibs.,  by  a  young  man,  whose  health  had 
been  indifferent  at  the  beginning  of  the  experiment.  Only  two  prisoners  lost  at  all  in  weight,  and  the 
quantity  in  each  case  wa«  trifling.  The  prisoners  all  expressed  themselves  quite  satisfied  with  this  diet, 
and  regretted  the  change  back  again  to  the  ordinary  diet," 

Now  the  quantity  of  nitrogen,  contained  in  the  six  pounds  of  potato  allowed  to  each 
of  these  prisoners,  was  equal  to  that  contained  in  somewhat  more  than  nine  ounces  of 
butcher's  meat. 

The  proximate  principles  of  the  potato  are  water,  starchy  matter,  (starch  grains  and 
amylaceous  fibre,)  ligneous  matter,  proteinaceous  principles,  (vegetable  fibrine,  vegetable  al- 
bumen, and  gluten,)  fat,  gum,  asparagine,  extractive,  vegetable  acids,  salts,  and  occasionally 
solanina.  » 

The  following  is  a  recent  analysis,  by  Michaelis,  of  a  red  variety  of  potato,  which 
was  suspected  to  possess  injurious  properties. 


*  Ann.  de  Chim.  et  de  Phys.  t.  67,  p.  410,  et  £eq. 

t  Chemistry  in  its  Application  to  Agriculture  and  Physiology,  p.  82,  2d  ed.     18-12. 

\  Fifth  Report  of  the  Inspectors  of  Prisons.     IV.  Scotland,  Northumberland,  and  Durham,  pp.  viii.— xi. 


180  COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 

PROXIMATE  COMPOSITION  OF  THE  POTATO. 

Water    .                .........  66-875 

Starch  and  amylaceous  fibre          ......  30-469 

Albumen        .        .                 .......  0'503 

Gluten             .        .                 .......  0055 

Fat                                                       ...                  .         .  0-056 


Asparagm       .......... 

Extractive       ..........        0-921 

Chloride  of  potassium    ........        0-1/6 

Silicate,  phosphate,  and  citrate  of  iron,  manganese,  alumina,  ) 
soda,  potash,  and  lime,  (of  these,  potaah  and  citric  acid  are  >    0-815 
the  prevailing  ingredients)          ....'.) 

Free  citric  acid       ...        ......        OP*? 

100-000 

I  have  already  given  some  account  of  Potato  Starch*  (see  p.  65,)  as  well  as  figures 
i  ^presenting  its  microscopic  appearance,  (see  p.  61.)  The  quantity  obtained  from  potatoes 
is  subject  to  considerable  diversity,  (see  p.  59;)  and  varies  not  only  with  the  sort  of  po- 
tato used  but  also  with  the  season. 

QUANTITY  OF  STARCH  YIELDED  BY  lOOlbs.OF  POTATOES  AT  DIFFERENT 

SEASONS. 


In  August,  about          .        .  10  Ibs. 

In  September  14i 

In  October   .        .        .        .  14* 

In  November       ...  17 


In  March      .        .        .        .        17  Ibt. 
In  April       ....        131 
In  May         .        .  10 


From  this  it  will  be  seen  that  the  quantity  of  starch  is  at  its  maximum  in  the  winter 
reason.  In  the  spring  vegetation  becomes  active,  and  the  buds  begin  to  grow  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  starch  contained  in  the  tuber.  Hence  at  this  season  potatoes  are  less  mealy, 
and,  in  consequence,  less  esteemed  for  the  table. 

Potato  starch  agrees  with  the  other  amylaceous  substances  in  its  alimentary  and  dieteti- 
cal  properties,  (see  pp.  62  and  65.)  Being  devoid  of  nitrogen  it  is  of  course  inferior  in 
the  nutritive  power  to  the  flour  or  meal  of  the  cereal  grains,  which  contain  vegetable 
fibrine,  vegetable  albumen,  and  gluten.  But  being  readily  soluble  in  boiling  water,  it 
yields  several  agreeable  articles  of  food.  It  is  sold  in  the  shops  under  the  name  of 
Potato  Flour  or  English  Arrow-root.  Bright1  s  Nutritious  Farina,  sold  for  invalids  ami 
infants,  is  a  carefully  prepared  potato  starch  slightly  scented.  The  substance  sold  as 
Indian  Corn  Starch  is  potato  starch  colored  blue.  Bright1  s  Universal  Sanative  Breakfast 
Beverage  appears  to  be  a  mixture  of  potato  starch  and  chocolate. 

The  presence  of  Citric  acid  in  the  potato  deserves  to  be  especially  noticed,  since  on  it 
probably  depends,  in  a  great  measure,  the  antiscorbutic  property  of  this  tuber.  Baup* 
says  that  the  potato  yields  sufficient  citric  acid  to  admit  of  its  being  employed  for  the 
preparation  of  this  acid,,  for  commercial  purposes. 

Solariina,  a  vegetable  alkali  possessing  powerfully  narcotic  properties,  has  been  de- 
tected by  Otto  .in  the  buds  and  underground  shoots  of  the  potato.  "If  potatoes  are 
grown  where  they  are  not  supplied  with  earth,  the  magazine  of  inorganic  bases,  (in  cel- 
lars, for  example,)  a  true  alkali,  called  solanin,  of  very  poisonous  nature,  is  formed  in 
the  sprouts  which  extend  towards  the  light,  while  not  the  smallest  trace  of  such  a  sub- 
stance can  be  discovered  in  the  roots,  herbs,  blossoms,  or  fruits  of  potatoes  grown  in  the 
field."f  The  most  delicate  test  of  solanina  is,  according  to  Otto,  iodine.  If  small  pieces 
of  this  be  added  to  a  weak  solution  of  solanina,  (as  the  sulphate,)  they  become  surround- 
ed by  a  brown  syrupy  fluid.  A  watery  solution  of  iodine  also  forms,  with  a  very  weak 

*  Pharmaceutisches  Central-Blatl  fur  1836,  p.  47. 

t  Otto,  quoted  by  Liebig,  Chemistry  in  its  Application  to  Agriculture,  p.  100.    2d  edit. 


POTATOES.  181 


solution  of  solanina,  a  brownish  color.*  Michaelis,-f  however,  declares  that  the  color  thus 
produced  depends  not  on  the  solanina,  but  on  the  fatty  acid  of  an  alkaline  [basic]  cal- 
careous soap  contained  in  the  potato.  Solanina  or  other  noxious  principle,  if  present  at 
all,  must  be  contained  in  extremely  small  quantity  in  the  potato,  or  must  be  destroyed  or 
removed  bv  cooling,  since  notwithstanding  the  universal  employment  of  this  vegetable, 
poisonous  effects  from  it  are  never  heard  of;  or  if  they  occur  must  be  exceedingly  rare. 
Nauche  asserts  that  the  infusion  or  decoction  of  potatoes  promotes  the  renal  and  biliary 
secretions,  and  slightly  affects  the  nervous  system.  If  the  observation  be  correct,  it  would 
follow  that  the  water,  in  which  potatoes  are  boiled,  extracts  or  destroys  some  noxious 
matter;  and  as  both  baked  and  roasted  potatoes  are  likewise  wholesome,  it  follows  that 
heat  alone  is  capable  of  destroying  the  noxious  principle  of  the  potato. 

When  potatoes  are  boiled  in  water  the  albumen  of  the  liquor  contained  in  the  cells  and 
intercellular  spaces  is  coagulated,  and  the  starch  grains  absorb  the  watery  portion  of  it, 
swell  up,  and  distend  the  cells  in  which  they  are  contained.  The  coagulated  albumen 
forms  irregular  fibres  between  the  starch  grains,  and  probably,  also,  covers  them  with  a 
thin  film  of  albumen.  Lastly,  the  cells,  in  which  the  starch  grain§  are  contained*  separate 
from  each  other.  Potatoes  in  which  these  changes  are  complete  are  called  mealy,  while 
those  in  which  they  are  only  partially  effected  are  called  watery,  doughy,  or  waxy.  Pota- 
toes, unlike  potato  starch,  do  not  yield,  by  boiling,  a  mucilage  or  jelly.  This  arises  pro- 
bably from  the  starch  grains  being  enveloped  by  a  coating  of  coagulated  albumen,  as  well 
as  by  the  membrane  of  the  cell  in  which  the  grains  are  contained. 

Potatoes,  when  in  good  condition  and  cooked  by  boiling,  form  a  nutritious  and  easily 
digestible  article  of  food.  From  an  experiment  made  on  the  prisoners  in  the  Glasgow 
Bridewell,  it  would  appear  that  baked  potatoes  are  less  nourishing  than  boiled  ones.  The 
following  is  an  extract,  from  the  report  of  the  Inspectors,  bearing  on  the  point  \\ — 

"First  Diet.—  Cost,  including  cooking,  2?d. 

Breakfast. — 8  ozs.  oatmeal,  made  into  porridge,  with  a  pint  of  Buttermilk. 

Dinner. — 3  Ibs.  of  boiled  potatoes  with  salt. 

Su]qjer.—5  ozs.  of  oatmeal  made  into  porridge,  with  half  a  pint  of  buttermilk. 

Ten  prisoners  were  put  on  this  diet,  (five  men  and  five  boys,)  all  under  sentences  of  confinement  for 
two  month*,  and  all  employed  at  light  work,  (picking  hair  and  cotton.)  At  the  beginning  of  the  experi- 
ment eight  were  in  good  health  and  two  in  indifferent  health  ;  at  the  end  all  were  in  good  health,  and 
they  had  on  an  average  gained  more  than  4  Ibs.  each  in  weight,  only  one  prisoner,  (a  man,)  having  lost 
in  weight  The  greatest  gain  was  9  Ibs.  4  ozs.,  and  was  made  by  one  of  the  men.  The  prisoner  who 
was  reduced  in  weight  had  lost  5  Ibs.  2  ozs." 

The  second  diet  was  similar  to  the  first,  except,  that  a  third  of  a  pint  of  skimmed  milk  was  substituted 
at  breakfast  for  a  pint  of  buttermilk.  Five  young  men  and  five  women,  some  of  whom  had  been  in 
prison  for  several  months,  were  put.  on  this  diet.  All  were  in  good  health  at  the  beginning  of  the  expe- 
riment, and  all  in  good  health  at  the  end.  On  an  average  each  prisoner  had  gained  rather  more  than 
4  Ibs.  in  weight. 

"  Third  diet. — Cost,  including  cooking,  23d.  This  diet  was  the  same  as  the  first,  except  that  the  pota- 
toes were  baked  instead  of  boiled.  Three  young  men,  two  boys,  and  five  young  women,  were  put  upon 
this  diet.  Most  of  them  had  been  in  confinement  about  five  months.  The  men  and  boys  and  two  of  the 
women  were  employed  in  weaving,  and  the  other  three  women  in  winding  and  twisting.  All  were  in 
good  health,  both  at  the  beginning  and  at  the  end  of  the  experiment.  There  was.  nowever,  an  average 
loiss  of  li  Ib.  in  weight,  the  greatest  loss  being  10  Ibs.,  (by  a  man,)  who  had  been  in  prison  nearly  five 
months,  and  the  greatest  gain  6?  Ibs.  by  a  woman,  who  had  been  in  prison  about  eight  weeks.  The 
prisoners  all  disliked  the  baked  potatoes  " 

*  Otto,  Pharmaceulisches  Central  Blattfiir  1834,  pp.  458-459. 

t  Imd.y«r  1833,  p.  379. 

1  Fifth  Report  of  the  Inspectors  of  Prisons.    IV.  Scotland,  Northumberland,  and  Durham,  pp.  viii.  -  xi. 


182  COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 


In  order  to  render  potatoes  more  palatable  they  are  usually  boiled  only  so  far  as  to 
make  them  soft  without  affecting  their  shape ;  and  probably  in  this  state  they  contain  a 
larger  amount  of  nutritive  matter  than  if  longer  boiled.  It  can  scarcely,  however,  be 
doubted  that  they  must  be  more  readily  permeated  by  the  gastric  juice,  and,  therefore, 
more  easily  digested,  if  boiled  until  they  begin  to  oreak  down,  or  are  so  softened  as  to  be 
readily  mashed. 

Hard  and  waxy  potatoes  must,  for  the  same  reason,  be  less  digestible  than  mealy  ones ; 
and  new  potatoes  being  less  mealy  are  less  easily  digested  than  old  ones. 

The  influence  of  a  freezing  temperature  on  the  potato  is  remarkable.  The  effect  is 
mechanical ;  the  watery  juice  contained  in  the  cells  and  intercellular  spaces,  expands  in 
the  act  of  freezing,  and  by  this  means  ruptures  and  isolates  the  cells,  and  destroys  the 
organization  of  the  tuber.  It  does  not  appear,  however,  that  any  chemical  change  is 
produced  in  the  first  instance  either  on  the  starch  or  the  other  constituents,  for  Girardin* 
obtained  the  same  proportions  of  water,  fecula,  woody  fibre,  albumen,  sugar,  and  saline 
matteps,  from  frosted,  as  from  unfrosted  potatoes.  But  it  is  obvious  that  when  the  organ- 
ization and  life  of  the  potato  is  destroyed,  decomposition  must  soon  sdfcceed ;  though 
even  then  the  fecula  or  starch  seems  but  little  altered. 

I  have  already  slightly  alluded  to  the  antiscorbutic  property  of  the  potato,  and  which  I 
have  in  part  ascribed  to  the  contained  citric  acid.  The  importance  of  the  subject  de- 
mands a  more  specific  reference  to  it.  Sir  Gilbert  Blanef  mentions  that  ra\v  potatoes 
sliced,  with  vinegar,  had  been  found  beneficial  in  scurvy.  Much  more  recently,  M.  Julia 
FontanelleJ  gave  a  brief  sketch  of  its  antiscorbutic  effects  on  sailors,  many  of  whom,  he 
states,  declared  themselves  to  have  been  cured  of  the  scurvy  by  long-continued  use  of 
potatoes  very  slightly  baked  under  the  ashes,  and  eaten  without  salt.  NaucheJ  also  tes- 
tifies to  the  antiscorbutic  properties  of  this  vegetable ;  which  he  used  in  the  form  of  a  de- 
coction. Mr.  Daltonil  and  Mr.  BerncastlelT  have  recommended  the  use  of  potato* 
preventive  of  scurvy  in  ships  making  long  voyages.  Dr.  Baly,**  Physician  to  the  Gi'in-ral 
Penitentiary  at  Milbank,  has  published  some  interesting  observations  on  the  antiscorbutic 
quality  of  the  potato;  and  he  declares  that  its  efficacy  is  not,  as  some  had  supposed,  im- 
paired by  a  boiling  heat,  but  "as  ordinarily  cooked,  it  is  an  admirable  preservative  against  the 
scurvy."  In  1840  he  found  that  scurvy  was  a  disease  of  rather  fivqiicnt  occurrence 
among  the  military  prisoners,  while  among  the  convicts  it  was  never  seen.  Tin-  t-.vmp- 
tion  of  the  latter  he  found  could  only  be  attributed  to  their  weekly  diet  containing  five  Ibs.  of 
potatoes  and  an  onion.  The  military  prisoners,  therefore,  were  allowed  two  Ibs.  of  pota- 
toes weekly  during  the  first  three  months  of  their  imprisonment,  three  Ibs.  during  the 
second  three  months,  and  four  Ibs.  after  the  expiration  of  six  months.  **  This  addition  to 
the  dietary  of  the  military  prisoners  was  made  in  January,  1842,  and  not  a  single  case  of 
scurvy  has  since  occurred."  Dr.  Baly  has  also  shown,  from  the  Reports  of  the  Inspec- 
tors of  Prisons,  that  in  those  prisons  where  scurvy  has  prevailed,  tl  e  diet  of  the  prisoners, 
though  often  abundant  in  other  respects,  has  contained  no  potatoes,  or  only  a  very  small 
quantity  ;  and  that  in  several  prisons  the  appearance  of  the  disease  has  wholly  ceased  on 
the  addition  of  a  few  pounds  of  potatoes  being  made  to  the  weekly  dietary. 

These  facts,  then,  are  of  high  importance,  inasmuch  as  the  potato  is  a  cheap  and  rea- 
dily accessible  preventive  of  scurvy — a  disease  which  the  excellent  reports  of  the  prison 
insuestors  have  shown  to  be  of  frequent  occurrence  in  Great  Britain.ft 


*  Journal  de  Pharmacie,  t.  xxiv.  p.  301.     1833.  t  Diseases  of  the  Fleet.     1781. 

t  Journal  de  Chimie  Medicale,  t.  ii.  p.  129.     1826.  $  Ibid.  t.  vii.  p.  374.         ||  Lancet,  Sept.  4,  1842. 

T  Ibid.  Sept.  23,  1842.  **  London  Medical  Gazette,  Feb.  10,  1843.  tt  Appendix,  I. 


LEAVES  AND  LEAFSTALKS.  183 

ORDER  IV.— BUDS  AND  YOUNG  SHOOTS. 

Onions,  Leeks,  Garlic,  and  Shallots,  though  usually  ranked  among  roots  (bulbous  roots,) 
are  in  reality  buds,  formed  at  or  beneath  the  ground,  and  whose  scales  are  thick  and 
fleshy.  They  owe  their  peculiar  odor  and  flavor,  as  well  as  their  pungent  and  stimula- 
ting qualities,  to  an  acrid  volatile  oil  which  contains  sulphur.  This  oil  becomes  absorbed, 
quickens  the  circulation,  and  occasions  thirst.  Passing  out  of  the  system  by  the  different 
excreting  organs  it  communicates  its  peculiar  smell  to  the  secretions.  Hence  the  well- 
known  odor  of  the  breath  after  eating  onions  or  garlic.  The  following  are  the  constitu- 
ents of  onions,  according  to  Fourcroy  and  Vauquelin  : — 

COMPOSITION  OF  THE  ONION. 


•Acrid  volatile  oil. 

Uncrystallizable  sugar. 

Gum. 

Vegetable  albumen. 


Woody  fibre. 

Acetic  and  phosphoric  acids. 

Phosphate  and  carbonate  of  lime. 

Water. 


Garlic,  Leeks,  and  Shallots,  have  a  similar  composition. 

If  the  volatile  oil  be  dissipated  by  boiling,  these  bulbs  no  longer  possess  any  acrid  or 
stimulating  qualities.  They  then  form  mild  and  easily  digestible  aliments :  whereas  in 
the  raw  state,  that  is,  with  the  oil,  they  are  pungent,  acrid,  difficultly  digestible,  stimulating 
substances. 

The  young  shoots  of  Asparagus  officinale  form  a  delicious  article  of  food,  known  at  ta- 
ble as  Asparagus.  Their  constituents  are  as  follows  : — 

COMPOSITION  OF  ASPARAGUS. 


Asparagine  (Asparamide.) 
Gum. 

Uncrystallizable  sugar. 
Vegetable  albumen. 


Woody  fibre. 

Acetate,  malale,  phosphate,  and  muri- 


Iron. 


ate  of  potash  and  lime. 


Resin. 

Asparagine  is  a  crystalline  substance  whose  formula  is  C8  H8  N2  Ofi  -f  Aq2.  Liebig  re- 
gards it  as  a  nutritive  agent,  (see  Theine.) 

Asparagus  is  a  wholesome?  very  agreeable,  light  kind  of  aliment,  which  acts  as  a  mild 
diuretic,  and  communicates  a  peculiar  and  unpleasant  odor  to  the  urine.  It  was  former- 
ly charged  with  causing  bloody  urine  and  accelerating  the  fits  of  the  gout,  but  there  does 
not  appear  to  be  any  ground  for  such  an  accusation.  It  is  usually  brought  to  table  with 
toasted  bread  and  melted  butter,  and  is  sometimes  eaten  in  soup. 
ORDER  V.— LEAVES  AND  LEAFSTALKS. 

The  green  color  of  foliaceous  parts  depends  on  the  presence  of  green  globules  contain- 
ed in  the  cells  of  the  leaf.  These  globules  consist  of  a  substance  called  chlorophylle, 
which,  in  its  properties,  is  intermediate  between  resin  and  fat.  It  does  not  appear  to  pos- 
sess any  alimentary  properties. 

"The  green  matter  of  plants,"  says  Dr.  Prout,*  "is  in  general  little  acted  on  by  the 
stomachs  of  the  higher  animals;  and  hence  may,  in  most  cases,  safely  form  the  portion 
of  the  food  of  diabetic  individuals,  as  first,  I  believe,  recommended  by  Dr.  B.  G.  Babing- 
ton :  though  on  very  different  principles.  In  many  cases  of  common  dyspepsia,  also, 
more  especially  connected  with  derangements  of  the  lower  intestines,  and  with  irritable 
states  of  the  mucous  membrane,  the  green  matter  of  plants  contributes,  as  above  men- 
tioned, to  the  action  of  the  bowels  by  its  excremental  properties.  In  dyspeptic  affections, 
however,  more  immediately  connected  with  the  stomach,  it  is  apt  to  disagree,  by  produ- 
cing acidity  and  flatulence,  and  their  consequences  ;  and  as  such  forms  of  dyspepsia  are 
by  far  the  most  common,  herbaceous  vegetable  matters  in  general  are  much  .ess  suited 
for  dyspeptic  individuals  than  farinaceous." 

*  On  the  Nature  and  Treatment  of  Stomach  and  Urinary  Diseases,  p.  300,  3d  ed.     1840. 


184 


COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 


The  CabbageTribe  includes  the  Cabbage,  (both  white  and  red,)  the  Savoy,  Greens,  the 
Cauliflower,  and  Broccoli.  The  parts  used  are  the  leaves,  and,  in  the  case  of  the  two 
last-mentioned  substances,  the  young  and  compact  flowering  heads. 

These  vegetables  by  drying  £>se  more  than  90  per  cent  of  water.  The  dried  residue 
is  remarkably  rich  in  nitrogen  as  well  as  in  sulphur. 


100  parts  of 

Water  lost  by 
drying  at  21-2°  F. 

Nitrogen  in  the 
dried  residue. 

Nitrogen  in  the 
tfbdned  plant. 

Cabbage 

.     .     .     .               92-3 

3, 

0-28 

According  to  Boussingault,*  from  whom  these  data  are  taken,  810  parts  of  fresh  cab- 
bage, or  83  parts  of  dried  cabbage,  are  equal,  in  nutritive  power,  to  100  parts  of  wheat, 
(see  p.  27.) 

The  following  are  the  results  of  Dr.  Beaumont's  experiments  on  the  digestibility  of  the 
cabbage : — 

DIGESTIBILITY  OF  CABBAGE. 


ARTICLES  OF  DIET. 

MEAN  TIME  OF  CHYMIFICATION. 

IN    STOMACH. 

IN     PHIALS. 

Preparation. 

//.    M. 

Preparation. 

H. 

17 

Cabbage  with  vinegar    .     .     . 
Cabbage  head 

Raw 
Raw 
Boiled 

2      0 
2    20 
4    30 

Shaved 
Masticated 
Boiled 

10 
12 
20 

15 
30 
0 

Cabbage        

The  Cabbage  has  been  analyzed  by  Schrader  ;f  the  Cauliflower  by  Trommsdorff.J 


234 
2'89 
005 
0'29 


Cabbage. 

Extractive        ... 

Gummy  extractive 

Resin        .        . 

Vegetable  albumen  . 

Green  fecula     ......    0'63 

Water  with  acetic  acid,  sulphate  and) 
nitrate  of  potash,  chloride  of  potassi-  I 
um,  malate  and  plwsphate  of  lime,  i-93'80 
phosphate  of  magnesia,  iron  and  man- 
ganese        .  .        .        .        J 

100-00 


^    Cauliflower 

Coloring  matter. 

Mucilage. 

Resin. 

Vc^-table  albumen,  (about  0'5  per  cent.) 

Chlorophylle. 

Falty  matter. 

Pectic  acid,  (a  product?) 

Woody  fibre,  (about  1-8  per  cent.) 

Silica. 

Water,  (rather  more  than  90  per  cent.) 

Malate  of  ammonia,  malate  of  lime,  free  malic 
acid,  acetate  of  potash,  pho^phau-  of  lime, 
chloride  of  calcium,  and  sulphate  of  pota.-h. 

Sourkrout  or  Sauerkraut. — Sauerkraut  is  prepared  by  the  fermentation  of  cabbage. 
The  plants  are  collected  from  the  fields  in  autumn,  divided,  the  stalks  removed,  and  the 
leaves  cut  by  machine  or  hand  into  slices,  a  layer  of  which  is  placed  into  a  vat,  alter- 
nating with  a  layer  of  salt,  until  the  vessel  is  filled,  when  it  is  subjected  to  the  prossuro 
of  heavy  weights  placed  on  the  whole.  At  the  end  of  six  weeks,  (more  or  less,  accord- 
ing to  the  temperature,)  when  the  acetous  fermentation  is  completed,  it  is  considered  fit 
for  use.  The  method  of  cooking  it  in  Germany  is  to  stew  it  simply  in  its  own  liquor, 
with  bacon,  pork,  or  other  fat  meat.  Dill,  caraway  seeds,  and  other  carrrinatives,  are 
sometimes  added. 


*  Ann.  de  Chim.  et  Phys. 

t  Schweigger's  Journ.fiir  Chem.  Bd.  v.  S.  19.     1812. 

I  Pharmaceutisches  Cent ral-Blatt  fiir  1832,  p.  97. 


J 


RECEPTACLES  AND  BRACTS.— STEMS.  185 

Sauerkraut  is  not  fitted  for  persons  troubled  with  acidity  of  stomach.  It  has  a  slightly 
relaxing  effect  on  the  bowels.  As  an  antiscorbutic  it  has  long  been  celebrated,  and  was 
highly  spoken  of  by  Capt.  Cook. 

Turnip  tops  are  frequently  boiled  and  used  as  greens,  but  they  are  apt  to  disorder  the 
bowels.  The  same  remarks  likewise  apply  to  Spinnge. 

The  herbaceous  part  of  the  Water  Cress,  the  seed  leaves  of  While  Mustard  and  of 
Common  Cress,  and  the  leaves  of  Lettuce  and  Endive,  are  eaten  raw,  under  the  name  of 
Salads,  (Acetaria,~)  with  the  addition  of  vinegar,  oil,  salt,  and  sometimes  mustard.  They 
of  course  yield  very  little  nourishment.  The  three  first-named  plants  probably  owe  their 
pungency  to  a  minute  portion  of  sulphurated  volatile  oil,  analogous  to  that  found  in 
horse-radish. 

Lettuce  leaves  are  used  at  table  as  a  salad.  They  usually  abound  in  a  cooling,  bland, 
pellucid  juice  ;  but  the  more  advanced  plant  contains  a  bitter,  milky  juice,  which  ha.s  a 
slight  tendency  to  promote  sleep.  Hence  lettuce  leaves  are  eaten  at  supper  by  those 
troubled  with  watchfulness.  Galen,  in  his  old  age,  obtained  relief  in  this  way.  It  is  pru- 
dent, however,  to  avoid  the  use  of  this  salad  when  any  tendency  to  apoplexy  manifests 
itself.  The  inspissated  milky  juice  of  the  lettuce  is  called  Lactucarium,  or  Let'uce  Opiu?n, 
and  is  employed  medicinally  as  an  anodyne,  sedative,  and  soporific.  Mr.  Loudon  enu- 
merates no  less  than  fourteen  varieties  of^the  lettuce,  which  are  cultivated  by  gardeners 
for  the  table.  Of  these,  seven  are  Cabbage  lettuces,  and  seven  Cos  lettuces. 

The  stalks  of  Rhubarb  leaves  are  used,  when  peeled,  for  making  pies,  tarts,  and  pud- 
dings, in  the  manner  of  apples  and  gooseberries.  Most  species  of  Rheum  may  serve  for 
this  purpose ;  but  Rheum  Rhaponticum  and  Rheum  hybridum  are  the  kinds  usually  cul- 
tivated. Rheum  palmatum  and  Rheum  Emodi  yield  excellent  tart  rhubarb.  Lassaigne 
found  in  the  stalks  of  Rheum  Rhaponticum  oxalic  and  malic  acids.  The  presence  of 
oxalates  makes  this  food  highly  objectionable  where  there  is  a  tendency  to  oxalate  of  lime 
calculi.  "  I  have  seen,"  observes  Dr.  Prout,  "  well-marked  instances  in  which  an  oxalate  of 
lime  nephritic  attack  has  followed  the  free  use  of  rhubarb,  (in  the  shape  of  tarts,  &c.,) 
particularly  when  the  patient  has  been  in  the  habit,  at  the  same  time,  of  drinking  hard 
water."* 

ORDER  VI.— RECEPTACLES  AND  BRACTS. 

Of  this  order  it  will  be  necessary  to  notice  one  vegetable  only,  namely,  the  Garden 
Artichoke,  (Cynara  Scolymus,)  whose  flower-heads  are  used  before  the  "expansion  of  the 
flowers.  The  parts  of  these  heads  which  are  eaten,  are,  1st,  the  fleshy  receptacle,  usu- 
ally called  the  bottom,  deprived  of  the  thistles  and  seed  down,  vulgarly  termed  the  choke  ; 
and,  2dly,  the  talus,  or  base  of  the  involucral  scales.  These  contain  a  sweet  saccharine 
and  mucilaginous  juice  with  starchy  matter,  and  they  form  a  bland  readily  digestible  arti- 
cle of  food  ;  but  the  melted  butter,  with  which  they  are  usually  eaten,  renders  them 
objectionable  for  dyspeptics  and  others  with  delicate  stomachs. 

ORDER  VII.— STEMS. 

From  the  stems  of  several  Cycadacese,  as  well  as  from  some  Palms,  is  obtained  a  fari- 
naceous substance,  which  is  employed,  in  the  East,  as  an  article  of  food.  Sago  (see  p. 
63)  is  procured  from  this  source. 

*  Rhubarb  tarts  and  pies  are  made  of  the  young  green  stalks  of  the  plant  called  m  England  "  Spring 
Fruit."  After  peeling  oft"  the  skin,  cut  the  stalks  into  small  pieces,  and  put  them  in  a  saucepan  with 
plenty,  of  brown  sugar.  Cover  it,  and  let  it  stew  slowly  in  its  own  juice,  till  soft  enough  to  make  a 
marmalade,  then  set  away  to  cook.  For  pies,  the  rhubarb  should  be  cut  very  small,  and  a  great  deal 
of  sugar  mixed  with  it.  Bake  about  three  quarters  of  an  hour. — L. 


186  COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 


CLASS  II.     ALIMENTS  DERIVED  FROM  FLOWERLESS  PLANTS. 
ORDER  I.— FERNS. 

From  the  tuberous  rhizomes  of  ferns  is  obtained,  in  some  of  the  Polynesian  islands,  as 
we1!  as  in  some  other  parts  of  the  world,  a  farinaceous  or  ligneous  matter,  which  is  em- 
ployed by  the  natives  as  a  nutritive  substance.  The  rhizomes  are  cooked  by  baking  or 
roasting.  In  general,  however,  they  are  only  resorted  to  in  ti'.nes  of  scarcity,  when  other 
and  more  palatable  food  cannot  be  obtained.* 

ORDER  II.-  LICHENS. 

Many  lichens  contain  a  starchy  or  amylaceous  matter,  analogous  to  gelatine,  called 
lichenin  or  feculoid,  (see  p.  66,)  to  which  they  owe  their  alimentary  qualities.  But  it  is 
usually  accompanied  with  a  bitter  principle,  which  gives  them  an  unpleasant  flavor,  and 
renders  them  apt  to  disorder  the  bowels.  To  separate  the  latter  substance  they  require 
to  be  soaked  in  a  cold  weak  alkaline  solution,  and  then  washed  with  cold  water. 

Several  species  of  Gyrophora,  as  G.  proboscidea,  £.  arctica,  G.  hyperborea,   G.  Pennsyl- 
vanica,  and  G.  Muhlcnbergii,  are  employed  by  the  hunters  of  t!he  Arctic  regions  of  A 
as  articles  of  food,  under  the  name  of  Tripe  de  Roche,^    All  four  species  were  eaten  b\ 
Franklin  and  his  companions,  in  1821,  when  suffering  great  privations  in  America ;  and  to  its 
use  may  their  preservation  be  in  part  ascribed.f     But  not  having  the  means  of  extracting 
the  bitter  principle,  these  lichens  proved  noxious  to  several  of  the  party,  producing 
bowel  complaints. 

Iceland  Moss  (Cetroria  Islandica)  is  extensively  used  in  England,  but  principally  as  a 
medicine.}  Its  composition,  according  to  Berzelius,  is  as  follows  : — 

COMPOSITION  OF  ICELAND  MOSS. 

Starchy  matter  (lichenin) 
Bitter  principle  (cetrarin) 
Uncrystallizable  sugar 
Chlofophylle 
Extractive  matter 

Gum 

Bilichenates  of  potash  and  lime  with  phosphate  of  lime 
Amylaceous  fibre  .        . 


1016 


Like  the  other  lichens,  it  must  be  deprived  of  its  bitter  matter  before  it  i- 
One  part  of  subcarbonate  of  potash  (salt  of  tartar)  dissolved  in  water,  and  rei. 


*  Ellis,  Polynesian  Researches,  vol.  i.,  p.  363;  Bennett,  Narrative  of  a  Whaling  Voyage,  vol.  ii  ,  p. 
394.     1840.— Dieflenbach  (Travels  in  New  Zealand,  vol.  ii.,  1843)  says,  that  the  "  korati  or  nt'/jn, 
pulpous  stem  of  a  tree-fern,  (Cyathea  medullans,)  is  an  excellent  vegetable  ;"  and  In-  ;uhK  M  il 
pared  by  being  cooked  a  whole  night  in  a  native  oven." — [Besides  these,  the  roots  of  Niphrodin 
lentum  are  eaten  in  Nipal,  according  to  Dr.  Buchanan.     Those  ofAagiopUris  evecta  are  u.-ccl  ; 
in  the  Sandwich  Islands,  under  the  name  of  Nehai.     Diplazium  ctculentum,  Pttris  escuknta,  ;\\ 
chenia  dichotoma,  are  also  occasionally  employed  for  food  in  different  countries.     Pttris  ai'ttili. 
Aspidiam  filic  mas  have  been  used  in  the  manufacture  of  beer,  and  Aspidium  fragans  as  a  sulxiuue 
•for  tea.]— L. 

t  Gyrophora  MuJilenbergii  is  employed  by  the  North  American  Indians,  boiled  with  fish-roe  or  other 
animal  matter,  and  is  agreeable  and  nutritious.  The  G.  probosctdea  is  found  abundantly  on  our  highest 
mountains,  and  is  an  extremely  pleasant  article  of  food,  and  of  a  sweetish  taste.— L. 

^  Narrative  of  a  Journey  to  the  Shores  of  the  Polar  Sea.     1823. 

§  The  Cetraria  nivalis  is  also  found  in  abundance  on  our  high  mountains,  and  might  tie  subftltnted, 
with  advantage,  for  the  C.  Islandica.  The  Raindeer  Moss,  which  forms  the  winter  food  of  that  ani- 
mal, is  the  Cenomyce  rangiferina. — L. 


SEA  WEEDS.  187 


caustic  by  an  equal  weight  of  lime,  is  sufficient  to  extract  the  bitter  principle  out  of  twenty 
parts  of  Iceland  moss  ;  but  for  this  purpose  the  plant  must  be  soaked  in  the  solution  for 
ten  or  fourteen  days.  Thus  deprived  of  its  bitterness,  -Iceland  moss  may  be  used  as  food 
by  boiling  it  in  water  or  milk,  and  flavoring  with  sugar,  lemon,  wine,  or  spices.  A  con- 
centrated decoction  gelatinizes  on  cooling. 

A  decoction  of  Iceland  moss,  made  with  the  unprepared  plant,  and  therefore  containing 
the  bitter  principle,  is  used  as  a  demulcent  tonic  in  consumptive  cases.  It  is  prepared  by 
boiling  down  five  drachms  of  the  moss  and  a  pint  and  a  half  of  water  to  one  pint.  The 
dose  is  from  two  table-spoonfuls  to  a  wine-glassful. 

ORDER  HI.— ALGJE  OR  SEA  WEEDS. 

Seveial  species  of  the  inarticulated  Algae  are  occasionally  employed  in  some  parts  of 
the  British  islands  as  articles  of  food.  Some  of  them  abound  in  a  mucilaginous  or  vegeto- 
gelatinous  substance,  to  which  they  in  part  owe  their  dietetical  uses.  Starch,  arid  in 
some  cases  sugar,  are  also  alimentary  principles  of  some  of  the  Algae. 

Laver  (Porphyra  laciniata  and  vulgaris)  is  sold  in  the  London  shops.  When  boiled  or 
stewed  for  several  hours,  until  reduced  to  a  pulpy  substance,  it  is  brought  to  table  as  a 
luxury,  under  the  name  of  Marine  Sauce,  Sloke,  or  Slouk*  In  its  absence,  Green  Laver 
(Uha  latissima)  is  sometimes  substituted  for  it. 

Carrageen  or  Irish  Moss,  called  also  Pearl  Moss,  (Chondrus  crispus,)  is  extensively  used, 
partly  as  a  domestic  remedy  and  partly  as  a  nutritive  substance. 

Its  composition  is  as  follows  : — 

COMPOSITION   OF  CARRAGEENIN. 

Vegetable  jelly  (Carrageenin) 79-1 

Mucus 9-5 

Resin 0-7 

Fat  and  free  acid traces 

Water >  10.7 

Salts          ...  5 

100-0 
The  salts  contain  chlorine,  iodine,  bromine,  sodium,  magnesium,  potassium,  and  calcium. 

The  substance  which  I  have  elsewheref  denominated  Carrageenin  (see  p.  70,)  ap- 
proximates to  the  mucilage  of  quince  seed  in  composition.  Mulder!  found  it  to  consist  of 
carbon  45-17,  hydrogen  4'88,  and  oxygen  49  95. 

Carrageenin  possesses  slight  nutritive  qualities.  In  the  form  of  decoction,  it  is  em- 
ployed as  a  popular  remedy  for  consumption,  scrofula,  &c.  A  very  concentrated  decoc- 
tion gelatinizes  on  cooling,  and  the  jelly  thus  prepared  is  used,  by  careful  housekeepers, 
in  the  preparation  of  Blanc-mange,  jellies,  white  soup,  &c. ;  but  it  is  a  wretched  substi- 
tute for  gelatine,  (isinglass  or  calves'  feet.)  It  has  a  fishy  or  sea-weed  flavor,  especially 
when  it  has  been  kept  for  some  days. 

Ceylon  or  Jafna  Moss  (Gracilaria  lichenoides)  is  a  whitish  filamentous  sea  weed  brought 
from  India.  Its  composition  is  as  follows  : — 

COMPOSITION  OF  CEYLON  MOSS. 

Vegetable  jelly 54-5 

True  Starch      .  15'G 

Ligneous  fibre 18-0 

*  The  Hon.  W.  H.  Harvey's  Manual  of  the  British  Atece.     1841. 
t  See  my  Elements  of  Materia  Medica,  vol.  ii.  p.  87 .,     A  ed. 
'  t  Phnrmaceulisches  Central-Blallfur  1838. 


188  COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 


Gum ...  4-0 

Sulphate  and  muriate  of  soda 6-5 

Sulphate  and  phosphate  of  lime  

Wax,  iron,  and  loss,          .  1*0 

100.0 

By  boiling  in  water  it  yields  a  liquid  which  gelatinizes  on  cooling.     The  decoction  or 
jolly  forms  an  agreeable,  light,  nourishing  article  of  food  for  invalids  and  children.* 

ORDER  IV.  FUNGI  OR  MUSHROOMS. 

Though  a  considerable  number  of  species  of  fungi  are  edible  in  fact,  several  form  deli- 
cious  articles  of  food — a  small  number  only  are  in  common  use  in  England.  This  has 
arisen,  in  great  measure,  from  the  difficulty  experienced  by  the  public  in  discriminating 
wholesome  from  poisonous  species.  Nay,  it  would  appear  that  the  same  species  is  under 
some  circumstances  edible,  under  others  deleterious.  This,  if  true,  is  a  very  proper  ground 
for  distrust.  "  So  strongly  did  the  late  Professor  L.  C.  Richard  feel  the  prudence  of  this-, 
that  although  no  one  was  better  acquainted  with  the  distinctions  of  fungi,  he  wouKl 
eat  any,  except  such  as  had  been  raised  in  gardens  in  mushroom  beds."f  The  edible 
species  in  most  common  use  in  England  are — 1st.  Agaricus  campestrist  (Common  1 
Cultivated  Mushroom,}  which,  in  the  adult  state,  is  employed  in  the  preparation  of  ketchup, 
and  is  eaten  fresh,  either  stewed  or  broiled  :  the  young  or  button  mushroom  is  pickled. 
2dly.  Morchella  esculenta,  (Common  Morel,)  employed  to  flavor  gravies,  ragouts,  &c.  3dly. 
Tuber  cibarium,  (Common  Trvffle,}  a  subterraneous  fungus,  used  for  seasoning.  No  less 
than  thirty-three  species  of  fungi  are  eaten  in  Russia4 

The  supposed  alimentary  principle  of  mushrooms  is  fungin,  already  described,  ( 
68,)   to  which  must,  in  some  cases,  be  added  mannile.     But  it  appears  to  me  by  no  means 
clearly  made  out  that  these  vegetables  possess  much  nutritive  power.}     They  are   cer- 

*  Besides  the  Algce  above  mentioned,  we  may,  on  the  authority  of  Lindley,  add  the  Rhodomdu  fmhrintn, 
the  duhe  of  the  Scots,  dittesk  of  the  Irish,  and  saccharine  Fucus  of  the  Icelander-,  which  is  consumed  in 
large  quantities  throughout  the  maritime  countries  of  the  north  of  Europe,  and  in  the  Grecian  Archipel- 
ago ;  the  Jridce,a  cduUn,  employed  in  Scotland  and  the  southwest  of  KiiL'land  :  the  /.'/(/-. 
pressa,  used  hy  the  Sandwich  Islanders  as  an  r>cnlent,  and  found  on  our  shori-s  :  tin     /  rinnnli- 

fida  (Pepper-dulse)  and  Ltimimiria  digitntu,  (Taripli,}  bot'h  e-.itcn  in  Scotland,  and  hawked  ;ihout  \\\- 
of  Edinburgh  with  the  cry,  "buy  dulse  and  tangle  :"  the  Alnrni  <*<  nlmln.  which  forms  part  of  the  simple 
fare  of  the  poorer  classes  of  Ireland,  Scotland,  Iceland,  Denmark,  and  the  Faroe  Islands.     Tin-  hun'mui'm 
potafontm  furnishes  the  aborigines  of  Australia  with  a  large  proportion  of  their  food,  \  e.-sels.and  in>tn:nients  : 
the  Diimttta  utilis  constitutes  an   equally  important  resource  to  the  poor  on  the  v.  :  South 

America.  In  Asia  several  species  of  gclidium  are  made  use  of  to  render  more  palatable  the  hot  and  hit- 
ing  condiments  of  the  East.  Some  undetermined  species  of  their  gums  furnish  the  materials  of  which 
the  edible  swallow's-nests  are  composed.  T.amouroux  remarks  that  three  s-pecies  of  bwallow  construct 
edible  nests,  two  of  which  build  at  a  distance  from  the  sea  coast,  and  use  the  sea  weed  only  as  a 
for  other  matters.  The  nests  of  the  third  are  consequently  most  esteemed,  and  sold  for  nearly  their 
weight  in  gold.  Gracilaria  Hthinoid:*,  mentioned  by  our  author,  is  highly  valued  for  food  in  Ceylon 
and  other  parts  of  the  east;  and  G.  compressa,  found  in  Great  Britain  and  this  country,  is  scarcely  in- 
ferior to  it.  To  the  lower  animals  sea  weeds  also  furnish  invaluable  resources  in  time's  of  scarcity  of  other 
food.  In  the  north  of  Europe  the  Rhodomela  palma/a  is  a  favorite  article  with  sheep  and  goats  :  in  some 
of  the  Scottish  islands  horses,  cattle,  and  sheep  feed  chiefly  upon  Fucus  vesiculosus  during  the  winter 
-nonths,  and  in  Gothland  it  is  commonly  given  to  pigs.  Fucus  serralus  and  Chorda  flum  constitute  a 
part  of  the  fodder  upon  which  the  cattle  are  supported  in  Norway. — L. 

t  Lindley,  Natural  System  of  Botany,  2d  ed.  p.  442 

t  Dr.  (now  Sir  G.)  Lefevre,  London  Medical  Gazette,  vol.  xxiii.  p.  414. 

§  "  We  do  not  believe,"  says  the  eccentric  Dr.  Kitchener  in  his  Cook's  Oracle,  "  that  mushrooms  are 
nutritive." 


TEA.  .  89 

tainly  difficult  of  digestion,  and  on  certain  constitutions  act  very  injuriously.  Invalids, 
dyspeptics,  and  others  with  delicate  stomachs,  will  act  prudently  in  avoiding  the  use  of 
this  doubtful  order  of  foods.* 

2.  LIQUID  ALIMENTS  OR  DRINKS. 

The  basis  of  all  drinks  is  water,  which  I  have  already  considered  among  alimentary 
principles.  I  have  now  to  notice  the  compounded  liquid  aliments,  or  those  composed  of 
water  combined  with  some  other  substance.  These  I  shall  arrange  in  six  orders,  as 
follows  : — 

1.  Mucilaginous,  farinaceous,  or  saccharine  drinks. 

2.  Aromatic  or  astringent  drinks. 

3.  Acidulous  drinks. 

4.  Animal  broths,  or  drinks  containing  gelatine  and  osmazome. 

5.  Emulsive  or  milky  drinks. 

6.  Alcoholic  and  other  intoxicating  drinks. 

ORDER  I.— MUCILAGINOUS,  FARINACEOUS,  OR  SACCHARINE  DRINKS. 

These  drinks  differ  but  little  from  common  water.  They  are  very  slightly  nutritive, 
and  are  employed  as  demulcents  and  diluents.  They  include  the  liquids  popularly  known 
in  the  sick-chamber  as  slops,  and  which  on  the  continent  are  called  tisans.  They  are 
well  adapted  for  febrile  and  inflammatory  maladies,  especially  when  combined  with  an 
affection  of  the  mucous  membrane  of  the  alimentary  canal. 

One  of  the  simplest  of  the  drinks  of  this  order  is  Toast  Water,  which  is  prepared  by  in- 
fusing toasted  bread  or  biscuit  in  water.  By  this  means  the  water  is  rendered  much  more 
palatable  and  agreeable,  by  the  empyreumatic  or  aromatic  and  gummy  or  starchy  matter 
which  the  toast  communicates  to  it.  It  is  a  very  wholesome  and  useful  drink. 

The«other  drinks  of  this  order  have  been  already  considered.  (See  Gum  Wat&.  p.  54, 
Siigar  Water,  p.  58,  Sago  Gruel,  p.  64,  Tdpioca  Gruel,  p.  64,  Arrow-root  Gruel,  p.  65, 
Common  or  Oat  Gruel,  p.  154,  Barley  Water,  p.  156,  Compound  Barley  Water,  p.  157, 
and  Mucilage  of  Rice,  p.  160.) 

ORDER  II.— AROMATIC  OR  ASTRINGENT  DRINKS. 

Under  this  order  are  included  Tea,  Coffee,  Chicory,  Chocolate,  and  Cocoa. 

1.  TEA. — The  shrub  or  shrubs  from  which  Tea  is  procured  are  closely  allied  to  the 
well-known  Camelia  Japonica.  Two  kinds,  known  respectively  as  the  Thea  -viridis  and 
Thea  Bohea,  are  cultivated  in  the  botanical  gardens  of  England ;  the  first  is  commonly 
said  to  yield  Green  Tea,  the  latter  Black  Tea.  Though  their  general  characters  and  ap- 
pearance give  the  idea  of  their  being  distinct  species,  yet  by  some  botanists  they  are  con- 
sidered to  be  mere  varieties.  Thus  De  Candolle  refers  them  to  one  species,  under  the 
name  of  Thea  Chinensis. 

Great  discrepancy  of  opinion  exists  amongst  writers  as  to  whether  the  green  and  black 
teas  of  commerce  are  the  produce  of  one  or  of  two  species.  Some  writers  contend  for 
one  species ;  "  the  green  and  black,  with  all  the  diversities  of  each,  being  mere  varieties 
produced  by  a  difference  in  the  culture,  qualities  of  soil,  age  of  the  crop  when  taken  up, 
and  the  modes  of  preparation  for  the  market "f  Others,  however,  assert  the  existence  of 

*  Repeated  instances  of  poisoning  from  the  use  of  mushrooms  have  occurred  in  the  United  Skies  witlun 
a  few  years  past.  There  is  no  doubt  that  climate,  as  well  as  the  mode  of  cooking,  modifies,  ;n  an  im 
portant  manner,  the  qualities  of  these  fungi ;  and  there  is  some  reason  to  believe  that  poisonous  and 
wholesome  species  are  sometimes  confounded  under  the  same  name.  The  plan  which  we  adopt,  and 
which  we  can  recommend  as  perfectly  safe,  is  never  to  eat  them  at  all. — L. 

t  Robinson's  Descriptive  Account  of  Asam.     1841. 


19o  COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 


two  distinct  species.  Thus  Mr.  Reeves,*  whose  opinions  are  entitled  to  great  weight,  ex- 
presses his  surprise  "that  any  person  who  has  been  in  China,  or,  indeed,  any  one  who 
has  seen  the  difference  in  the  color  of  the  infusions  of  black  and  green  tea,  could  sup- 
pose for  a  moment  that  they  were  the  produce  of  the  same  plant,  differing  only  in  the 
mode  of  curing;  particularly  as  they  do  not  grow  in  the  neighborhood  of  each  other." 

The  principal  varieties  of  Black  Teas  are,  Bohea,  Congou,  Campoi,  Souchong,  Caper, 
and  Pekoe.  The  last-mentioned  one  is  the  best  It  is  prepared  from  the  unexpanded 
leaf-bud.  Bohea  is  the  lower  grade  of  black  tea.  To  the  Green  Teas  belong  Twankay, 
Hyson-skin,  Hyson,  Imperial,  and  Gunpowder.  "The  gunpowder  here  stands  in  the 
place  of  the  pekoe,  being  composed  of  the  unopened  buds  of  the  spring  crop.  Imperial, 
hyson,  and  young  hyson,  consist  of  the  second  and  third  crops.  The  light  and  inferior 
feaves,  separated  from  the  hyson  by  a  winnowing  machine,  constitute  hyson-skin."f 

The  latest  analysis  of  tea  is  that  qf  Mulder.}: 

COMPOSITION  OF  TEA. 


Hyson.       Congou.  Hyson.         Congou. 

Volatile  oil 0-79  -     0-60     --  0-98  —     (MM 

Chlorophylle 2'^  -     1-84    -  3-21  l-2-< 

Wax 0-2S  -     0-00     -  0-32  -     <><><> 

Resin     .  '         .  2-22   -     *M     -     l'<~.l  -     -J  H 


Gum 

Tannin  . 

Theine  . 

Extractive      . 

Apotheme 

K\t.  obtained  by  hydrochlor  c  acid 

Albumen 

Fibrous  matter 


8-56  -  7-28  -  12-20  -  11-ciS 

-  1288  -  17-56  -  14-80 

013   _  CMC,  _  o-fio  _  or,;. 

2280  -  19-88  -  21-6-i  - 


23-GO  -  I'M  -2  -  20-36  -  I  "21 
3-00  -  2-80  -  3-f.l  -  1-28 
17-08  -  28-32  -  ls-20  - 


-  98-30     -100-42     - 
Salts  included  in  the  above          .        .        .        5-56  -     5-24     -     4-76     -     5-36 

According  to  this  analysis,  green  tea  contains  more  tannin  than  black  tea.  This  accords 
with  every-day  experience,  as  well  as  with  the  experiments  of  Mr.  Brando ;}  but  it  i-  op- 
posed to  the  results  obtained  by  Sir  II.  Davyll  and  Frank, IF  both  of  whom  state  that  black 
tea  is  the  most  astringent.  It  is  probable,  therefore,  that  the  amount  of  tannin  in  differ- 
ent teas  is  subject  to  variation. 

The  substance  called  Theine,  or  Theina,  is  a  crystalline  salifiable  base,  discovered  some 
years  since  by  Oudry,}  and  since  found  to  be  identical  with  caffeine,  obtained  from  coffee. 
Its  formula  is  C8  IIs  N2  O2 .  It  exists  in  tea,  in  combination  with  tannic  acid.  Hot 
extracts  the  tannate  of  theina  as  well  as  free  tannic  acid;  but  by  cooling,  both  of 
substances  almost  entirely  precipitate.  According  Mulder,  theina  is  not  to  be  regarded  as 
the  principle  which  confers  on  tea  its  peculiar  or  characteristic  properties.  Its  action  on 
the  system  is  not  very  obvious.  He  gave  half  a  grain  to  a  rabbit;  the  animal  ate  but  lit- 
tle the  next  day,  and  abDrted  the  day  after.  Liebigff  has  suggested  that  it  may  contribute 
to  the  formation  of  bile.  "  Without  entering  minutely  into  the  medicinal  action  of  caf- 
feine, (theine,)"  he  observes,  "it  will  surely  appear  a  most  striking  fact,  even  if  wn  were 
I  to  deny  its  influence  on  the  process  of  secretion,  that  this  substance,  with  the  addition  of 

*  London's  Gardener's  Maga~r\?,  vol.  ix.  p.  713. 

t  M'Culloch's  Dictionary  of  Commerce.  \  Pharmaceutisches  Central-Blatt  filr  1838,  p.  403. 

§  Quarterly  Journal,  vol   xii.  p.  201.  ||  Philosophical  Transactions  for  1803,  p.  268. 

1!  Gmelin,  Handbuch  dcr  Chemk,  vol.  ii.  p.  1252.  **  Thomson,  Organic  Chemistry,  p.  295. 

tt  Animal  Clumistry,  p.  179,  et  seq. 


TEA.  191 

oxygen  and  the  elements  of  water,  can  yield  taurine,  the  nitrogenized  compound  peculiar 
to  bile  :— 

1  atom  Caffeine  or  Theine  .        =  C8  N2  H«  O2 

9  atoms  Water     ...  •    .         =  H9    O^ 

9  atoms  Oxygen  =  O3 


C8  N2  H><  O2(> 
=  2  atoms  Taurme     .  ...  2  (C4  N   H'  O»)" 

The  same  authority  adds,  that  "2T8¥ths  grains  of  caffeine  [theine]  can  give  to  an 
ounce  of  bile  the  nitrogen  it  contains  in  the  form  of  taurine.  If  an  infusion  of  tea  con- 
tain no  more  than  the  J-th  of  a  grain  of  caffeine,  [theine,]  still,  if  it  contribute  in  point 
of  fact  to  the  formation  of  bile,  the  action  even  of  such  a  quantity  cannot  be  looked  upon 
as  a  nullity.  Neither  can  it  be  denied  that,  in  the  case  of  an  excess  of  non-azotized  food 
and  a  deficiency  of  motion,  which  is  required  to  cause  the  change  of  matter  in  the  tis- 
sues, and  thus  to  yield  the  nitrogenized  product  which  enters  into  the  composition  of  bile, 
that  in  such  a  condition  the  health  may  be  benefited  by  the  use  of  compounds  which  are 
capable  of  supplying  the  place  of  the  nitrogenized  product  produced  in  the  healthy  state 
of  the  body,  and  essential  to  the  production  of  an  important  element  of  respiration.  In 
a  chemical  sense — and  it  is  this  alone  which  the  preceding  remarks  are  intended  to  show 
— caffeine  or  theine,  asparagine,  and  theobromine,  are,  in  virtue  of  their  composition, 
better  adapted  to  this  purpose  than  all  other  nitrogeni^ed  vegetable  products.  The  ac- 
tion of  these  substances,  in  ordinary  circumstances,  is  not  obvious,  but  it  unquestion- 
ably exists."  These  views,  though  quite  hypothetical,  are  highly  ingenious  and  interest- 
ing. 

The  peculiar  flavor  of  tea  depends  on  the  volatile  oil,  which  is  lighter  than  water,  a-nd 
has  a  lemon  yellow  color,  and  the  taste  and  smell  of  tea.  Alone  it  acts  as  a  narcotic,  but 
in  combination  with  tannin,  as  a  diuretic  and  diaphoretic.  It  is  extracted  from  tea  by 
hot  water,  in  which,  however,  it  is  not  always  equally  soluble,  its  solubility  being  modified 
by  the  other  constituents. 

The  following  is  the  composition  of  the  ashes  of  black  tea  : — 

ASHES  OF  CONGO  TEA. 

Chinese.  Javanese. 

Potash,  sulphate,  phosphate,  and  muriate  of  potash     .         .  2*84  —     3-40 

Oxide  of  iron,  carbonate,  sulphate,  and  phosphate  of  lime,  )  ,«o  1.^4 

and  carbonate  of  magnesia $ 

Hypermangauate  of  potash traces  —         0 

Silica  0-68  —    0-32 


5-24  536 

Notwithstanding  the  extensive  employment  of  tea  in  this  country,  it  is  no  easy  matter 
to  ascertain  its  precise  effects  on  the  constitution.  Its  astringency,  proved 'by  its  chemi- 
cal properties,  depends  on  the  presence  of  tannin.  Of  this  quality  we  may  beneficially 
avail  ourselves  in  some  sases  of  poisoning,  as  by  poisonous  mushrooms,  by  opium  or 
laudanum,  or  by  any  other  vegetable  substance  containing  a  vegetable  alkali,  with  which 
tannin  combines.  Schvvann*  found  that  tannin  throws  down  a  precipitate  from  the  arti- 
ficial digestive  liquids,  and  renders  this  fluid  inert.  Does  the  copious  use  of  strong  tea, 
therefore,  immediately  after  a  meal,  impede  the  process  of  digestion  ? 

T)..e  peculiar  influence  of  tea,  especially  of  the  green  variety,  over  the  nervous  system, 
depends  on  the  volatile  oil  above  referred  to.  This  .influence  is  analogous,  in  some  re- 
spects to  that  of  foxglove  ;  for  both  green  tea  arid  foxglove  occasion  watchfulness,  and 

*  Quoted  by  Muller,  in  his  Elements  of  Physiology :  see  Baly's  translation,  p.  5-16. 


COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 


act  as  sedatives  on  the  heart  and  blood-vessels.  These  effects  of  tea  are  familiar  to  most 
persons.  It  is  a  common  practice  with  those  who  desire  nocturnal  study  to  use  tea;  and 
on  the  same  principle  it  may  be  employed  as  an  antisoporific  to  counteract  the  effects  of 
opium  and  intoxicating  liquors,  and  to  relieve  the  stupor  of  fever.  As  a  diluent  and  se- 
dative it  is  well  adapted  for  febrile  and  inflammatory  disorders,  and  most  persons  can 
bear  testimony  to  its  good  effects  in  these  cases.  To  its  sedative  influence  also  should  be 
ascribed  the  relief  of  headache  sometimes  experienced  by  the  use  of  strong  tea.  In  colds, 
catarrhs,  and  slight  rheumatic  cases,  warm  tea  is  used  as  a  diluent,  diaphoretic,  and 
diuretic. 

Strong  green  tea  produces  on  some  constitutions,  usually  those  popularly  known  as 
nervous,  very  severe  effects.  It  gives  rise  to  tremor,  anxiety,  sleeplessness,  and  most 
distressing  feelings.  On  others,  however,  none  of  these  symptoms  are  manifested. 
Part  of  the  ill  effects  sometimes  ascribed  to  tea  may  be  owing  to  the  use  of  so  much 
aqueous  liquid, — to  the  temperature  of  the  liquid, — to  milk  and  sugar  used  with  it, — or 
to  the  action  of  the  tannin  on  the  digestive  liquid.  But  independently  of  these,  tea  pos- 
sesses a  specific  and  marked  influence  over  the  functions  of  the  brain  not  referrible  to 
any  of  the  circumstances  just  alluded  to. 

Weak  tea  rarely  disagrees  with  the  invalid,  and  is  admissible  in  a  variety  of  maladies, 
in  most  of  which  it  proves  refreshing  and  agreeable.  It  is  well  adapted  for  febrile  and 
inflammatory  complaints  ;  and  is  particularly  valuable  when  we  are  desirous  of  checking 
sleep.  Moreover,  if  the  suggestions  of  Liebig,  before  -noticed,  be  correct,  tea  is  by  no 
means  to  be  considered  as  a  mere  diluent,  but  as  possessing  nutritive  powers  of  no  mean 
kind* 

2.  COFFEE. — The  Coffee  plant  (  Coffea  arabica)  is  a  native  of  Arabia  Felix  and  Ethiopia, 
but  is  extensively  cultivated  in  Asia  and  America.  It  is  an  evergreen  shrub,  from  fifteen 
to  twenty  feet  high,  and  bears  an  oval,  succulent,  blackish  red  or  purplish  two-seeded 
berry.  The  seeds  are  enclosed  in  a  membranous  coat,  (endocarp,)  called  by  some  bota- 
nists a  parchment-like  putamen.  Occasionally  they  are  imported  with  this  coat  remaining 
on  them,  and  in  this  state  they  form,  what  is  called  in  commerce  coffee,  in  the  husk.  In 
general,  however,  they  are  met  with  without  this  coat,  and  in  this  state  are  called  simply 
coffee,  or  raw  coffee.  They  then  consist  of  a  horny,  yellow,  bluish  or  greenish  albumen, 
which  is  convex  on  one  side,  but  flat  on  the  other  side,  with  a  longitudinal  furrow.  At 
one  end  of  the  seed  is  the  embryo,  with  its  cordiform  cotyledons. 

The  varieties  of  coffee  are  distinguished  in  commerce  according  to  their  places  of 
growth;  but  considered  with  reference  to  their  physical  properties,  they  are  characterized 
by  color  (yellow,  bluish,  or  greenish)  and  size,  (the  smallest  seeds  being  about  three  lines 
long  and  two  broad,  the  largest  five  lines  long  and  two  lines  and  a  half  broad.)  Arabian 
or  Mocha  Coffee  is  small  and  dark  yellow.  Java  and  East  India  (Malabar)  kinds  are 
larger  and  paler  yellow.  The  Ceylon  is  more  analogous  to  the  West  India  kinds,  (Jamai- 
ca, Berbice,  Demerara,  Dominica,  Barbadoes,  &c.,)  which,  as  well  as  the  Brazilian,  have 
a  bluish  or  greenish  gray  tint. 

Roasted  Coffee  is,  when  ground,  extensively  adulterated  with  chicory.  To  detect  the 
adulteration,  shake  the  suspected  coffee  with  cold  water  in  a  wineglass  :  if  it  be  pure 
coffee,  it  will  swim,  and  scarcely  communicate  any  color  to  the  fluid.  Chicory,  on  the 
other  hand,  sinks,  and  communicates  a  deep  red  tint  to  the  water.  The  microscope 
serves  also  to  detect  the  adulteration ;  fragments  of  dotted  ducts  being  found  when 
chicory  is  present,  but  not  when  the  coffee  is  pure.  The  presence  of  roasted  corn  may 

*  Appendix,  12. 


COFFEE.  ins 


be  detected  by  the  blue  color  produced  on  the  addition  of  a  solution  of  iodine  to  the  cold 
decoction. 

Coffee  has  been  the  subject  of  repeated  chemical  investigation  ;  but  a  good  analysis  ol 
it  is  still  a  desideratum. 

The  following  probably  are  the  constituents  of  raw  coffee  :— 

COMPOSITION  OF  RAW  COFFEE. 


Caffeic  acid. 
Tanno-caffeic  acid  (Gallic 

acid  of  some  ?) 
Caffeine. 
Wax. 
Fixed  oil. 
Resin. 


Gum. 

Extractive. 

Albumen. 

"    lin. 

Sulphur  (Robiquet.) 
Lime  J™  ' 
Iron. 


Ligni 
Sulpt 
Lime  and  Magnesia. 


Caffeic  acid  is  a  white  powder  insoluble  in  alcohol,  but  soluble  in  water.  Its  charac- 
teristic property  is,  that  when  heated  it  emits  an  odor  precisely  similar  to  that  of  roasted 
coffee ;  so  that  the  aroma  of  roasted  coffee  must  depend  on  the  decomposition  by  heat  of 
this  acid.*  Zenneck,f  it  is  true,  denies  this,  and  asserts  that  the  aromatic  principle  is 
neither  acid  nor  alkaline  ;  but  he  admits  that  alkalies  render  it  odorless,  while  the  subse- 
quent addition  of  an  acid  causes  the  smell  to  reappear;  a  fact  strongly  confirmatory  of  its 
acid  nature.  Pfaff  J  analyzed  this  acid,  and  found  it  to  consist  of  carbon  29-1,  hydrogen 
6'9,  and  oxygen  6 -4. 

Tanno-caffeic  acid  is  a  dark  brown  extractiform  substance,  whose  solution  yields  a  green 
color  with  the  salts  of  the  peroxide  of  iron,  but  no  precipitate  with  a  solution  of  isinglass.  ' 


In  these  properties  it  resembles  catechine,  (catechuic  acid.) 

Caffeine  is  identical  with  Theine,  already  described,  (see  p.  190.) 

By  roasting,  coffee  suffers  some  remarkable  and  well-known  changes  in  its  sensible  pro- 
perties ;  but,  in  a  chemical  point  of  view,  the  precise  nature  of  these  changes  is  by  no 
means  well  determined.  The  aroma  is,  as  I  have  already  stated,  ascribed  by  Pfaff  to  the 
effect  of  heat  on  the  caffeic  acid. 

The  infusion  or  decoction  of  coffee  forms  a  well-known  favorite  beverage.  Like  tea, 
it  diminishes  the  disposition  to  sleep,  and  hence  is  often  resorted  to  by  those  who  desire 
nocturnal  study.  It  may  also  be  used  to  counteract  the  stupor  induced  by  opium,  alco- 
holic liquors,  and  other  narcotics.  In  some  constitutions  it  acts  on  the  bowels  as  a  mild 
laxative.  I  have  known  several  persons  on  whom  it  had  this  effect ;  yet  it  is  usually  de- 
scribed as  producing  constipation.  Employed  moderately,  I  believe  it  to  be  a  wholesome 
and  slightly  nutritive  beverage.  I  have  already  (see  p.  190  et  seq.~)  explained  Liebig's 
hypothesis  of  the  nutritive  agency  of  caffeine,  (theine.)  The  immoderate  use  of  coffee  is 
said  to  produce  various  nervous  disorders,  such  as  anxiety,  tremor,  disordered  vision, 
palpitation,  and  feverishness 

Coffee  is  occasionally  useful  in  the  sick-chamber.  It  relieves  some  forms  of  headache, 
espesially  those  denominated  nervous,  and  which  are  unaccompanied  with  sanguineous 
congestion.  It  likewise  proves  beneficial  in  some  cases  of  spasmodic  asthma.  § 

Dunn's  Essence  of  Coffee  is  prepared  by  subjecting  moistened  roasted  coffee  to  pres- 
sure, 

3.  CHICORY  OR  SUCCORY. — The  substance  sold  in  the  shops  under  the  name  of  chicory 
is  the  roasted  root  of  the  Cichorium  Inlybus,  (Wild  Succory,  or  Wild  Endive,)  an  indi- 

*  Pfaff,  Pharmaceutisches  Central-jBlatt,  fur  1831,  }»p.  423  &  441. 
t  Ibid.  p.  444.  J  Ibid.  p.  443. 

§  Coffee  is  one  of  the  most  valuable  cordials  and  restoratives  after  exhaust:  on  and  creat  fatigue,  and 
in  cases  of -sudden  withdrawal  of  alcoholic  liquors  :  See  Appendix,.  13.  — L. 

It 


13 


194  COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 


genous  syngenesious  plant,  extensively  cultivated  in  Holland,  Belgium,  and  Germany, 
from  whence  it  is  largely  imported.  Ths  root  is  cut,  dried,  roasted  like  coffee  in  heated 
iron  cylinders  which  are  kept  revolving,  and  then  ground  in  mills.  The  powder  is  em- 
ployed by  grocers  and  others  to  adulterate  coffee,  (see  p.  192.)  Its  infusion  or  decoction 
forms  a  perfectly  wholesome  beverage,  but  which  wants  the  fine  flavor  for  which  genuine 
coffee  is  renowned.  I  have  been  informed,  however,  that  some  persons  prefer  the  flavor 
of  a  mixture  of  coffee  and  chicory  to  that  of  unmixed  coffee.  Chicory  is  frequently  adul- 
tersied.  A  grinder  of  the  article  tells  me  that  roasted  peas  and  beans,  damaged  corn,  and 
coffee  husks,  are  used  as  sophistications,  and  that  Venetian  red  or  Armenian  bole  is  em- 
ployed as  a  coloring  agent.* 

4.  CHOCOLATE. — This  is  prepared  from  the  seeds  of  the  Theobroma  Cacao,  a  native  of 
tho  West  Indies  and  of  Continental  America.  The  kernels  of  the  seeds  have,  according 
to  Lampadius,f  the  following  composition : — 

COMPOSITION  OF  THE  KERNELS  OF  CACAO  SEEDS. 

Fat  or  oil  (butter  of  cacao) 5310 

Albuminous  brown  substance 16  70 

Starch 1091 

Mucilage  or  gum 775 

lied  coloring  matter         ..........  2-01 

Lianine .        .  0  JK) 

Water        .                6'20 

Loss  (from  adhesion  of  mucilage  to  the  filter) 343 

10000 

The  fat  or  oil,  called  butter  of  cacao,  is,  therefore,  the  principal  ingredient  of  the  seeds. 
{«  is  a  white  solid  substance,  has  a  chocolate  flavor,  and  is  chiefly  composed  of  oleine 
and  stearine ;  but,  unlike  most  other  fats,  is  not  apt  to  become  rancid. 

More  recently,  a  nitrogenized  crystalline  principle,  called  theobromine,  has  been  discov- 
ered in  these  seeds.  Its  formula  is  C9  H5  N*  O',  or  C18  HM  N«  O4.  It  is  very  similar  to 
caffeine. 

The  husks  consist  principally  of  lignine,  but  they  yield  by  boiling  a  brownis[i  mucilagi- 
nous extract. 

Chocolate  is  prepared  by  roasting  the  seeds,  and  depriving  them  of  their  husks,  which 
constitute  about  23  per  cent,  of  the  whole.  The  kernels  of  the  roasted  seeds  constitute 
what  is  called  Nib  Cocoa.  They  are  ground  in  a  mill,  whose  sole  rests  on  a  heated  iron 
plate,  by  which  they  are  made  into  a  brown  pasty  mass,  which,  when  sweetened  with 
Borne  saccharine  matter,  flavored  with  either  vanilla  or  cinnamon,  and  placed  in  proper 
moulds,  constitutes  Chocolate.  In  a  large  manufactory  of  this  substance  in  London,  honey 
is  employed  as  a  sweetener,  and  a  portion  of  starchy  matter  (sago  flour  or  potato  starch) 
i?  added,  in  order  to  give  the  chocolate  a  thickening  quality.  Most  of  the  chocolate  made 
at  this  establishment  consists  merely  of  the  decorticated  roasted  seeds,  sago  flour,  and 
honey,  without  any  other  flavoring  ingredient.}: 

ChocoU'3  furnishes  a  moderately  nourishing  and  very  agreeable  beverage.  On  hypo- 
T'otical  grounds,  Liebig  has  suggested  that  the  theobromine.  may  contribute  to  the  forma- 
tion of  the  nitrogenized  principle  of  the  bile  and  urine ;  for  with  the  addition  of  the  ele- 


*  We  Lave  used  a  decoction  of  chicory  with  great  benefit  in  congestions  and  torpor  of  the  liver  and 
other  forms  of  hepatic  disease.    With 'equal  parts  of  dried  Dandelion  root,  it  forms  a  not  unit! 
beverage,  and  may  be  employed  as  a  substitute  for  coffee  in  such  cases. — L. 

«•  Quoted  in  l)ulk's  Preussische  Fharmakopoe. 

j  A  similar  manufactory  has  lately  been  established  in  this  city,  (N.  York,)  and  the  process  of  grind- 
ing may  he  seen  at  almost  any  hour,  especially  in  the  evening,  in  a  certain  window  in  Broadway.— L. 


ACIDULOUS  DRINKS.  195 


merits  of  water  and  of  a  certain  quantity  of  oxygen,  it  yields  the  elements  of  taurine  and 


1  at.  theobromine,  J518  N«  H10  O* 
22  at.  water       .     .  H2*  O22 

16  at.  oxygen         .  .  O16 


4  at.  taurine        .        .    C18  N*  H*3  O« 
1  at.  urea    .  .    Ca   N2  H*    O3 


C18  N6  H32  O42J 

Chocolate,  though  devoid  of  the  disagreeable  qualities  frequently  evinced  by  tea  and 
coffee,  of  disturbing  the  nervous  functions,  yet  is  difficult  of  digestion,  on  account  of  the 
large  quantity  of  oil  which  it  contains,  and  is,  therefore,  very  apt  to  disturb  the  stomach 
of  dyspeptics  and  of  others  troubled  with  a  delicate  stomach. 

5. — COCOA. — Under  this  name  is  sold  in  the  shops  another  preparation  of  the  seeds  of 
the  Theobroma  Cacao.  It  is  prepared  by  grinding  the  entire  roasted  seeds,  (kernels  and 
husks,)  sometimes  mixed  with  sago  meal  or  potato  starch.  I  suspect  that,  besides  the 
entire  seeds,  the  husks  separated  in  the  manufacture  of  chocolate  are  also  intermixed.  It 
is  somewhat  less  oily  than  chocolate,  and  being  rather  astringent,  is  adapted  for  persons 
with  relaxed  bowels. 

ORDER  III.-ACIDULOUS  DRINKS. 

These  drinks  consist  of  water,  as  their  basis,  and  an  acid,  which  is  usually  a  vegetable 
one. 

a .  A  considerable  number  of  acidulous  drinks  are  prepared  with  the  juices  of  fruits. 
Of  these  Lemonade,  already  noticed,  (see  p.  172,)  is  the  most  familiar  example. 

ft  t  Acidulous  drinks  are  also  prepared  by  dissolving  vegetable  acids  or  acidulous  salts 
in  water,  and  variously  flavoring  the  liquid.  Raspberry-vinegar  water  (see  p.  70)  and 
Imperial  (see  p.  75)  are  drinks  of  this  kind. 

The  genera]  effects  of  these  acidulous  drinks  have  been  already  explained,  (see  p.  72.) 
They  allay  thirst,  both  as  well  by  the  acid  as  the  water  which  they  contain.  They  form 
cooling,  refreshing,  antiscorbutic  drinks,  and  are  well  adapted  for  hot  seasons  and  for 
febrile  and  inflammatory  cases. 

Y  t  Decoctions  of  fruits  likewise  form  acidulous  drinks.  They  promote  the  secretions 
of  the  alimentary  canal,  and  act  as  laxatives.  Apple  Tea  is  prepared  by  boiling  an  apple 
in  half  a  pint  of  water,  and  adding  sugar  to  the  decanted  liquor. 

3  The  caroonated  or  effervescent  drinks  belong  to  this  order.  They  owe  their  brisk- 
ness and  sparkling  quality  to  carbonic  acid  gas,  which  has  been  either  forced  into  the 
liquid  by  pressure,  or  developed  in  it  after  the  corking  of  the  bottle.  . 

The  Bottle  Soda  Water  of  the  shops  is,  in  general,  merely  a  solution  of  carbonic  acid 
gas  in  water ;  and  might,  therefore,  be  more  properly  denominated  Carbonic  acid  Wafer. 
Webb's  Soda  Water  is  an  exception  to  this  statement,  as,  in  the  preparation  of  it,  15  grains 
of  crystallized  carbonate  of  soda  are  added  to  every  10  fluid  ounces  of  water  ;  &ud,  in  con- 
sequence, it  effervesces  on  the  addition  of  an  acid,  after  the,  escape  of  the  free  jarbonic 
acid.  The  quantity  of  gas  contained  in  these  effervescing  waters  depends  on  the  pressure 
employed  in  their  preparation.  At  the  ordinary  temperature  and  pressure  of  the  atmo- 
sphere, water  absorbs  its  own  volume  of  carbonic  acid  gas,  and  acquires  a  specific  gravity 
of  1'OOIS.  By  doubling  the  pressure,  it  takes  up  two  volumes  of  gas ;  by  trebling  it, 
three  volumes;  and  so  on.  Mr.  Webb  informs  me  that  a  pressure  of  eleven  atmospheres 
is  used  in  the  preparation  of  his  soda  water.*  Water  thus  charged  with  carbonic  acid 

*  "Hudson's  Soda  Water,"  which  is  in  very  general  use  in  New  York,  is  prepared  under  an  equal 
degree  of  pressure.  More  than  one  fatal  accident  has  occurred  from  the  explosion  of  the  fountains  in 
which  it  is  confined. — L. 


196  COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 


forms  a  refreshing  cooling  beverage.  It  acts  both  as  a  diaphoretic  and  diuretic,  and  is  a 
most  valuable  agent  for  checking  nausea  and  vomiting.  When  it  contains  bicarbonate 
of  soda  in  solution,  it  proves  antacid,  and  is  a  most  valuable  beverage  for  persons  afflicted 
with  calculi  in  the  bladder.  The  facts  adduced  by  M.  Chevallier*  appear  to  me  to  be 
conclusive  that  bicarbonate  of  soda  promotes  the  solution  of  uric  acid  in  the  bladder,  and 
that  it  assists  in  breaking  up  and  dividing  other  calculi,  (the  phosphates.) 

Ginger  Beer  is  a  well-known  popular  and  agreeable  beverage.  A  very  superior  pre- 
paration of  this  kind  is  made  as  follows  : — Take  of  White  Sugar  20  Ibs.,  Lemon  or  Lime 
Juice  18  oz.,  Honey  1  lb.,  Ginger,  bruised,  22  oz.,  Water  18  gallons.  Boil  the  ginger  in 
three  gallons  of  water  for  half  an  hour ;  then  add  the  sugar,  the  juice,  and  the  honey, 
with  the  remainder  of  the  water,  and  strain  through  a  cloth.  When  cold,  add  the  White 
of  one  Egg  and  half  an  ounce  of  Essence  of  Lemons.  After  it  has  stood  for  four  days, 
let  it  be  bottled.  This  preparation  will  keep  for  many  months. 

Several  other  effervescing  or  carbonated  drinks  have  already  been  noticed — (see  Lemon 
and  Kali,  p.  74 ;  Concrete  Acidulated  Alkali,  p.  74 ;  Soda  Powders,  p.  74  ;  Ginger  Beer 
Powders,  p.  75;  Effervescing  Saline  Draught,  p.  75;  and  Seidlitz  Powders,  p.  75.)  They 
are  prepared  with  a  vegetable  acid  (citric  or  tartaric)  and  an  alkaline  carbonate.  Hence 
there  is  formed,  in  their  manufacture,  a  vegetable  alkaline  salt,  (citrate  or  tartrate,)  the 
general  effects  of  which  on  the  system  have  been  already  noticed,  (see  p.  15.) 

ORDER  IV.— DRINKS  CONTAINING  GELATINE  AND  OZMAZOME. 
(Broths  and  Soups.) 

These -are  essentially  decoctions  of  animal  flesh,  (meat;)  though  frequently  vegetables 
are  also  used  in  their  preparation. 

The  composition  of  the  flesh  of  various  species  of  animals  has  been  already  stated,  (see 
pp.  Ill,  113,  and  114;)  but  the  changes  which  it  suffers  in  the  operation  of  boiling  are  by  no 
means  well  ascertained.  The  fibrine  of  the  meat  is  rendered  harder,  but  being  insoluble 
in  water,  contributes  nothing  to  this  liquid.  The  albumen  of  meat  is  partly  solid,  partly 
liquid  ;  the  latter  is  coagulated  by  the  boiling  water.  By  the  united  agency  of  water 
and  heat,  a  portion  of  albumen — or  at  least  a  nitrogenous  matter — is  rendered  soluble, 
and  therefore  is  contained  in  the  broth.  The  hematosin,  (see  pp.  92  and  119,)  or  coloring 
matter  of  the  blood,  dissolves  in,  and  communicates  a  red  color  to,  cold  water:  but,  as 
soon  as  the  water  becomes  sufficiently  heated,  the  hematosin  coagulates,  and  forms  brown 
flocculi,  which  float  on  the  top  of  the  liquor,  and  constitute  part  of  what  is  called  the 
scum.  The  cellular  tissue,  the  bones,  the  aponeuroses,  and  the  tendons,  yield,  by  boiling  in 
vater,  gelatine.  The  fatty  matters  melt,  and,  except  when  they  are  contained  in  closed  cells, 
escaping  from  the  meat,  float  on  the  top  of  the  broth,  The  nervous  or  cerebral  fatty  matter, 
!see  p.  117,)  which  principally  constitutes  the  pulp  of  the  nerves,  is  softened  by  the  heat, 
md  is  in  part  carried  off  during  the  process.  The  odor  which  it  evolves  when  heated  is 
ecognised  both  in  the  broth  and  the  boiled  meat. 

During  the  ebullition  there  are  obtained,  by  unknown  reactions,  other  products  ;  viz. 
Istly,  creatine,  (see  p.  113,)  2dly,  osmazome,  (see  p.  113,)  or  the  extractive  matter  on  which 
the  odor  and  flavor  of  broth  principally  depend ;  3dly,  ammonia ;  4thly,  a  sulphureted 
compound,  (sulphureted  hydrogen  ?)  which  blackens  paper  moistened  with  a  solution  of 
acetate  of  lead ;  5thly,  a  volatile  acid,  analogous  to  acetic  acid  ;  Gthly,  an  odorous  volatile 
acid,  similar  to  butyric  acid.  The  three  last-mentioned  substances  are  partially  or  wholly 
volatilized. 

*  London  Medical  Gazette,  vol.  xx.  p.  542. 


BROTHS  AND  SOUPS. 


197 


Thus,  then,  the  following  are  the  constituents  of  broth  and  boiled  meat : — 


Broth. 
Gelatine. 

Albuminous  matter. 
Creatme. 

Extractive  matters  (Osmazorfie.) 
La  flic  acid. 
Salts.      • 

A  little  fatly  matter. 
yact-liarine  matter. 
Water. 


Bailed  Meat. 
Fibrine. 

Albumen  (coagulated.) 
Gelatinous  cellular  tissue. 
Fat. 

Nervous  matter. 
Water. 


Besides  moat,  it  is  customary  to  employ  vegetables,  (as  turnips,  carrots,  onions,  &c.)  in 
the  preparation  of  broths.  These  communicate  coloring  and  mucilaginous  matters,  sugar, 
nitrogenized  matter,  Ayo!atile  oils  and  salts.  All  the  cruciferous  plants,  as  turnips  and  cab- 
bages,  yield  a  sulphureted  and  nitrogenized  principle.  Onions  and  leeks  furnish  an  acrid 
volatile  oil  :  the  sweet  herbs  an  aromatic  oil. 

The  following  table,  drawn  up  from  Chevreul's  results,  shows  the  quantity  of  aliment- 
ary matter  contained  in  broth  : — 


Substances  used  in  the  preparation  of  broth. 

Beef 1-433 

Bone 0-430 

Common  salt       .         .         .        0'040 

Water         ....  5000-000 

Turnips 

Carrots         .        .        .        \        0-331 

Onio'ns  (burnt)     . 


Products. 


Broth 

Boiled  meat 

Bone 

Vegetables 


0-858 
0-392 
0'340 


The  specific  gravity  of  the  broth  was  1-0136.     One  litre  (  = 
tained  — 


wine  pints)  con- 


Water        .        . 
Organic  matters 


Salts 


'soluble 


insoluble 


f  Potash 
I  Soda 
<  Chlorine 
j  Phosphoric  acid 
(^Sulphuric  acid 
(  Phosphate  magnesia 

lime 
(  Oxide  copper 


985-600 
16-917 


10-721 


8-539 


1013-6 

Magendie*  states  that  1  litre  (=  ^yYo'V  w"ie  pints)  of  the  broth,  whiah  is  very  care- 
fully prepared  by  the  "  Compagnie^hollandaise"  in  Paris,  contains  from  24  to  25  grammes 
(—  370'416  to  385-85  troy  grains)  of  dry  matter,  of  which  from  8  to  10  grammes 
(=123 '472  to  154'34  troy  grains)  are  saline  substances.  It  is  obvious  from  these  state- 
ments that  the  actual  amount  of  nutritive  matter  in  broths  is  very  small. 

Beef  Tea,  Mutton,  Veal,  and  Chicken  Broths,  are  the  lightest  forms  of  animal  food, 
and  are  employed  by  invalids  and  convalescents.  Beef  Tea  is  a  light  and  pleasant  arti- 
cle of  diet.  Mutton  Broth  is  apt  to  disagree  with  persons  having  delicate  stomachs,  es- 
pecially if  the  fat  be  not  skimmed  from  it.  It  is  frequently  given  to  promote  the  opera- 
tion of  purgative  medicine.  Chicken  Broth,  of  all  the  animal  decoctions,  is  the  least  dis- 
posed to  disturb  the  stomach.  It  is  especially  adapted  for  invalids  with  great  irritability 
of  stomach.  Veal  Broth  is  less  frequently  used.  When  prepared  from  a  knuckle  of  veal, 
and  sufficiently  concentrated,  it  gelatinizes  on  cooling. 

ORDER  V.— EMULSIVE  OR  MILKY  DRINKS. 
These  liquids  hold  in  suspension  an   oily  or  fatty  substance  in  a  finely  divided  state. 


Comptes  Rendus,  1841,  t.  xiii. 


198 


COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 


Animal  Milk,  the  principal  and  most  important  drink  of  this  order,  has  been  already 
fully  considered,  (see  p.  119,  el  seq.} 

Almond  Milk  is  an  emulsive  liquid  used  as  a  drink.  It  is  prepared  as  follows : — Take 
of  Sweet  Almonds,  blanched,  half  an  ounce,  Powdered  Gum  Arabic  a  drachm,  White 
Sugar  two  drachms,  and  Water  six  ounces  and  a  half.  Beat  the  almonds  with  the  sugar 
and  water,  and  then  gradually  add  the  water.  Almond  milk  agrees  with  animal  milk 
in  many  of  its  properties.  It  contains  in  solution  caseine,  sugar,  and  gum,  and  retains  in 
suspension  a  fixed  oil.  It  forms  a  very  agreeable  demulcent  drink  in  colds,  coughs,  and 
inflammatory  affections  of  the  bowels  and  urinary  organs. 

Orgeat,  Syrup  of  Orgeat,  or  Syrup  of  Almonds,  is  thus  prepared  : — Take  of  Sweet 
Almonds  a  pound ;  Bitter  Almonds  four  ounces  ;  Water  three  wine  pints  ;  and  Sugar 
six  pounds.  Blanch  the  almonds,  and  beat  them  in  a  mortar  to  a  fine  paste,  adding  three 
fluid  ounces  of  the  water  and  a  pound  of  the  sugar.  Mix  the  paste  thoroughly  with  the 
remainder  of  the  water,  strain  with  strong  expression,  add  the  remainder  of  the  sugar  to 
the  strained  liquor,  and  dissolve  it  with  the  aid  of  a  gentle  heat  Strain  the  syrup  through 
the  linen,  and,  having  allowed  it  to  cool,  put  it  into  bottles,  which  must  be  well  stopped, 
and  kept  in  a  cool  place. — In  most  recipes  for  it,  about  an  ounce  of  Powdered  Gum  is 
directed  to  be  used,  and  about  half  a  pint  of  Orange  Flower  Water :  but  the  latter,  as 
found  in  the  shops,  is  frequently  contaminated  with  lead.  Orgeat  is  demulcent  and 
slightly  narcotic,  owing  to  the  presence  of  prussic  acid,  (derived  from  the  bitter  almonds.) 
It  is  used  to  flavor  drinks  for  invalids,  and  to  allay  troublesome  coughs.  .The  dose  of  it 
is  from  one  to  two  table-spoonfuls. 

The  Milk  of  the  Cocoa  Nut  is  an  albuminous  liquid,  closely  allied  to  vegetable  emul- 
sions, though  it  is  devoid  of  oily  matter.  It  holds  in  solution  a  proteine  compound,  (vege- 
table caseine  ?)  sugar,  gum,  and  some  salts.  It  is,  therefore,  slightly  nutritive. 

ORDER  VI.— ALCOHOLIC  AND  OTHER  INTOXICATING  DRINKS. 

I  have  already  fully  considered  the  dietetical  properties  of  Alcohol  and  of  the  different 
kinds  of  Ardent  Spirit  in  ordinary  use  in  England,  (see  pp.  25  to  27,  and  76  to  80.] 
Of  alcoholic  drinks,  therefore,  Malt  Liquor  and  Wine  alone  remain  for  consideration. 

1.  MALT  LIQUOR  OR  BEER. — Under  this  head  are  included  Afe,  Stout,  Porter,  and  the 
weaker  kinds  of  beer  commonly  known  as  Table  or  Small  Beer.  All  these  are  ferment- 
ed infusions  of  malt  flavored  with  hops. 

The  densities  of  different  kinds  of  beer  are,  according  to  Mr.  Richardson,  as  follows  I—- 


DENSITY OF  BEER. 


Kinds  of  Beer. 

Excess  in  pounds  p(r 
bamel  over  a  ba  -j  el 
of  water. 

Specific  Gravity. 

Burton  Ale,  1st  sort       .     .     . 
"     2dsort       ... 
"     3d  sort       ... 
Common  Ale 

40  to  43 
35  to  40 
28  to  33 
25  to  57 

1-111  to  1120 
1097tollU 
1  077  to  1-002 
1  (WO  to  T073 

«        « 

21 

0GB 

Porter,  common  sort    ... 
double      
brown  stout       ... 
"      best  brown  stout    .     . 
Common  table  beer      
Good  table  beer 

18 
20 
23 
26 
6 
12  to  14 

050 
055 
064 
•072 
1014 
1  033  fn  1-039 

The  following  are  the  principal  constituents  of  beer  : — 


BEER. 


199 


Alcohol. 
Starch  sugar. 
Dextrine,  (starch  gum.) 
Extractive  and  bitter  matter. 
Fatty  matters. 
Aromatic  matters. 


COMPOSITION  OF  BEER. 

Glutinous  matters. 
Lactic  acid. 
Carbonic  acid. 
Salts. 
Water. 


1.  Alcohol — The  quantity  of  spirit  contained  in  different  kinds  of  beer,  according  to  the 
experiments  of  Brande  and  Christison,  has  been  already  stated,  (see  p.  77.)      We  may 
safely  assume,  with  Dr.  Ure,*  that  the  amount  of  spirit,  "  in  common  strong  ale  or  beer,  is 
about  4  per  cent,  or  four  measures  of  spirits,  specific  gravity  0-825,  in  100  measures  of 
the  liquor.     The  best  brown  stout  porter  contains  6  per  cent.,  the  strongest  ale  even  8  per 
cent. ;  but  common  beer  only  one."f 

2.  Carbonic  Acid. — The  quantity  of  free  carbonic  acid  in  beer  is  subject  to  considerable 
variation,  as  the  following  table,  taken  from  Dumas,  shows : — 


QUANTITY  OF  CARBONIC  ACID  IN  BEER. 

Carbonic  Acid  per  cent. 

in  volumes. 

2 

3 


Not  frothy 
Beading,  not  frothy 
Yielding  a  little  scum,  not 
Very  shsht  froth 
ight 


frothy 


4 

8 
11 
15 

20  to  22 
25  to  26 


Slight  froth 
Moderate  froth 
Rather  strong  froth 
Strong  froth,  much  scum 

3.  Extract. — By  evaporation  we  obtain  the  soluble  but  fixed  and  nutritive  constituents 
of  beer,  in  the  form  of  an  extract,  which  consists  of  starch-sugar,  dextrine,  lactic  acid, 
different  salts,  the  extractive  and  aromatic  parts  of  the  hop,  gluten,  and  fatty  matters. 
The  quantity  of  extract  yielded  by  beer  is  subject  to  considerable  variation.  It  depends 
not  only  on  the  strength  of  the  wort,  but  on  the  length  of  the  fermentation  and  the  age  of  the 
beer.  An  imperial  pint  of  good  porter  yields  in  general  about  one  ounce  and  a  half  of  extract. 

The  following  is  the  composition  of  six  varieties  of  beer,  according  to  Wackenroder  :| — 
COMPOSITION  OF  BEER. 


% 

c    • 

.  i 

oioi  '    t% 

cC 

i^ 

"is 

i  ^ 

rtSS      p  t, 

.1 

£•-0 

CONSTITUENTS. 

'  — 

S'w 

4)  &PH     1       '5J   tj, 

Q^ 

l;r~l 

Jei 

<In     ^* 

|| 

51* 

5  ?• 

<5I 

1 

CL, 

l|| 

G  ™ 

£ 

w 

ID 

0 

Absolute  alcohol        

3168 

3096 

3018 

2-834 

2-567 

2080 

Albumen  coagulated  by  heat    . 
Solid  extract      ...... 

0048 
4485 

0079 
7072 

0045 
6144 

0030 
6349 

0020 
7316 

002S 
7153 

Water        .       ) 

Carbonic  acid  > 

92299 

89753 

90793 

90-787 

90-097 

90739 

Acetic  acid      3 

Total        .... 

100-000 

100  000 

100-000  1  loo  ooo 

100-000 

100000 

Soluble  salts  ;   viz.,   phosphate   of  potash, 
more  or  less  chloride  of  potassium  and 

sulphate  of  potash,  with  some  intermixed 
phosphates  of  lime  £  id  magnesia 

0078 

0107 

0118 

0101 

0107 

0085 

Insoluble  substances;   viz.,  phosphates  of 
lime  and  magnesia,  with  some  silica     . 

0162 

0104 

0071 

0076 

01% 

0103 

*  Dictionary  of  Arts,  p.  105.— For  further  information  respecting  the  quantity  of  alcohol  in  beer,  the 
reader  is  referred  to  Accum's  Treatise  on  Adulterations  of  Food,  and  to  the  writings  of  Leo.  (Pharma- 
ceutisches  Central-Slatt  fur  1833,  p.  413,)  Schrader,  Wackenroder.  and  Lampadius,  (Ibid,  fur  1834,  p. 
96,  et  seq.) 

f  Appendix,  14.     ^  Traite  de  Chimie,  t.  vi.     1843.      §  Pharmaceutisches  Central-Slatt  fiir  1834,  p.  100. 


200  COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 


Considered  dietetically,  beer  possesses  a  three-fold  property: — it  quenches  thirst; 'it 
stimulates,  cheers,  and,  if  takeiv  in  sufficient  quantity,  intoxicates;  and,  lastly,  it  nour- 
ishes, or  strengthens.  Its  power  of  appeasing  thirst  depends  on  the  aqueous  ingredient 
which  it  contains,  assisted  somewhat  by  its  acidulous  constituent.  Its  stimulating,  cheer- 
ing, or  intoxicating  power,  is  derived  either  wholly,  or  principally,  from  the  alcohol  which 
it  contains."  Lastly,  its  nutritive  or  strengthening  quality  is  derived  from  the  sugar,  dex- 
trine, and  other  substances  contained  in  the  extract  Moreover,  the  bitter  -principle  of 
hops  confers  on  beer  tonic  properties. 

From  these  combined  qualities  beer  proves  a  refreshing  and  salubrious  drink,  (always 
presuming  that  it  is  used  in  moderation,)  and  an  agreeable  and  valuable  stimuli! 
support  to  those  who  have  to  undergo  much  bodily  fatigue.     When  Dr.  Frankli- 
sorted  that  a  penny  loaf  and  a  pint  of  water  yielded  more  nourishment  than  a  pint  of 
it  is  obvious  that  he  regarded  beer  merely  as  a  nutrient,  and  overlooked  its  stimulating 
and  cheering  qualities,  of  which  bread  and  water  are  totally  devoid. 

It  is  a  popular  notion,  which  has,  perhaps,  some  foundation  in  fact,  that  beer  has  a 
tendency  to  promote  corpulency.  This  cannot  be  the  effect  of  the  alcohol  which  it  con- 
tains, since  it  is  well  known  that  confirmed  spirit-drinkers  are  usually  slender,  or  even 
emaciated,  (see  p.  27.) 

Considered  dietetically,  beer  differs  from  wine,  in  containing  less  alcohol,  but  more  nu- 
tritive matter ;  and,  in  addition,  a  bitter  tonic  extractive  derived  from  the  hop. 

The  practice  of  taking  a  moderate  quantity  of  mild  malt  liquor,  of  sound  quality,  at 
dinner,  is  in  general  not  only  unobjectionable,  but  beneficial.  It  is  especially  suited  for 
those  who  lead  an  active  life,  and  are  engaged  in  laborious  pursuits.  For  the  sedentary 
and  inactive  it  is  less  fitted.  In  the  convalescence  after  lingering  diseases,  it  often  proves 
a  most  valuable  restorative ;  but  in  delicate  conditions  of  the  stomach,  and  in  relaxation 
of  the  bowels,  its  use  should  be  prohibited.  With  bilious  and  dyspeptic  individuals  it 
frequently  disagrees,  and  by  such,  therefore,  should  be  avoided.  In  plethoric  constitu- 
tions, especially  when  there  is  a  tendency  to  apoplexy,  it  is  objectionable.  In  some  per- 
sons it  is  apt  to  produce  headache,  and  by  such  it  should  be  either  used  sparingly,  or 
totally  abstained  from.f 

There  are  considerable  differences  in  the  dietetical  properties  of  different  kinds  of  malt 
liquors,  to  which  it  is  necessary  to  make  allusion. 

Ale  is  prepared  with  pale  malt,  and  on  this  account  is  much  lighter  colored  than  Porter 
and  Stout.  The  strongest  kinds  of  ale  are  richer  in  alcohol,  sugar,  and  gum,  than  any 
other  kind  of  malt  liquor  :  but  though  they  thus  contain  a  larger  amount  of  nutritive  mat- 
ter, they  are  not  fitted  for  ordinary  use,  on  account  of  their  intoxicating  and  stupefying 
qualities,  and  are  especially  to  be  avoided  in  diabetic  and  dyspeptic  cases.  On  some  per- 
sons they  act  as  purgatives.  The  Pale  Ale  prepared  for  the  India  market,  and,  there- 
fore, commonly  known  as  the  Indian  Pale  Ale,\  is  free  from  these  objections.  It  is  care- 
fully fermented,  so  as  to  be  devoid  of  all  sweetness,  or,  in  other  words,  to  be  dry ;  and  it 
contains  double  the  usual  quantity  of  hops  :  it  forms,  therefore,  a  most  valuable  r< 
tive  beverage  for  invalids  and  convalescents.  It  is  taken  with  benefit  by  many  persons 
on  whom  other  kinds  of  ale  act  injuriously.  For  ordinary  use  at  table,  the  weaker  kinds 
of  ale,  popularly  known  as  Table  Ale,  are  to  be  preferred. 

Porter  is  prepared  from  a  mixture  of  pale  and  high-dried  or  charred  malts;  the  pale 

t  Sekct  Works,  by  W.  T.  Franklin,  vol.  i.,  p.  36     Lond.,  1818. 
*  Appendix,  15. 

\  "  The  beer  which  the  English  send  to  the  Indies,"  says  Dumas,  "  is  vnore  highly  chxrged  with  the 
essential  oil  [of  hops.]" 


WINE.  201 


kind  being  used  to  give  body  or  strength — the  dark  kind  to  communicate  color.*  More- 
over, a  larger  amount  of  hops  is  used  in  the  preparation  of  porter  than  of  the  ordinary 
kinds  of  beer.  Porter  is  much  better  adapted  for  table  use  than  strong  ale.  It  agrees 
with  many  individuals  on  whom  the  latter  liquid  acts  injuriously.  Wh«n  new,  as  gene- 
rally prepared  at  the  present  day,  it  is  called  mild;  by  keeping,  a  portion  of  acid  is  devel- 
oped in  it,  and  it  is  then  denominated  hard.  Formerly,  when  hard  porter  was  in  request, 
publicans  were  in  the  habit  of  rendering  new  beer  hard,  or,  as  it  was  called,  of  bringing  it 
forward,  by  the  addition  of  sulphuric  acid.  To  render  old  beer  mild,  carbonate  of  lime, 
or  of  soda,  or  of  potash,  is  used  to  neutralize  the  acid. 

Beer,  especially  Porter,  is  very  extensively  adulterated.!  Coculus  indicus  is  used  to 
augment  its  intoxicating  quality  ;  and  some  of  the  popular  treatises  on  brewing  give  di- 
rections for  employing  it.  Thus  Morrice  directs  three  Ibs.  of  Coculus  to  be  used  for  every 
ten  quarters  of  malt.  "  It  gives,"  says  he,  "  an  inebriating  quality  which  passes  for 
strength  of  liquor;"  and  he  adds,  that  it  prevents  second  fermentation  in  bottled  beer, 
and  consequently  the  bursting  of  the  bottles  in  warm  climates."  This  sophistication  is  a 
highly  dangerous  one,  coculus  indicus  being  a  very  poisonous  fruit,  as  well  for  man  as 
for  the  inferior  animals  ;  and  the  legislature  has,  therefore,  very  properly  imposed  a 
penalty  of  £200  upon  the  brewer,  and  £500  upon  the  seller  of  the  drug.  In  order  to 
avoid  detection,  brewers'  druggists  are  in  the  habit  of  preparing  a  watery  extract  of  the 
fruit,  which  is  sold  as  black  extract  or  hard  multum.\  Quassia  is  used  as  a  substitute  for 
hops,  to  communicate  a  bitter  taste.  Grains  of  Paradise  and  Cayenne  give  pungency ; 
though  it  is  a  common  but  erroneous  opinion,  that  grains  of  paradise  have  an  intoxicating 
or  narcotic  property.  Coriander,  Caraway,  &c.,  are  used  to  communicate  flavor;  Liquor- 
ice,  Treacle,  and  Honey,  give  color  and  consistence.  A  mixture  called  Beer-heading, 
composed  of  green  vitriol,  (sulphate  of  iron,)  alum,  and  common  salt,  is  used  to  give  a 
fine  frothy  or  cauliflower  head  to  beer. 

2.  WINE. — By  the  term  wine  is  usually  meant  a  drink  or  liquid  prepared  by  the  vinous 
fermentation  of  must,  (i.  e.  the  juice  of  the  grape  ;)  but  sometimes  it  is  made  to  include  the 
fermented  juices  of  fruits  generally,  as  of  elderberries,  currants,  gooseberries,  &c. ;  and, 
in  a  more  general  sense,  it  comprehends  all  saccharine  liquids  which  have  been  subjected 
to  the  vinous  fermentation.  The  liquid  called  ginger  wine  is  an  instance  of  this  more  ex- 
tended use  of  the  word  wine. 

In  a  dietetical  point  of  view  it  will  be  necessary  to  notice  those  wines  only  which  are 
obtained  from  the  grape  ;  and  to  these,  therefore,  the  following  remarks  are  intended 
to  apply. 

Must — the  expressed  juice  of  the  grape — whose  composition  I  have  already  noticed, 
(see  p.  170,)  readily  undergoes  fermentation  when  subjected  to  a  temperature  of  between 
0(.°  F.  and  80°  F. ;  while  in  the  grape  itself  the  juice  does  not  ferment,  owing,  as  Gay- 

*  The  high  temperature  employed  in  preparing  the  brown  or  black  malls  greatly  alters  or  actually  de- 
composes the  saccharine  matter,  the  diastase  and  other  constituents  of  the  grain,  and  gives  rise  to  the  for- 
mation of  a  coloring  matter  analogous  to  caramel. 

t  In  the  Sunday  Times  of  March  13,  1842,  is  the  report  of  the  conviction  of  a  druggist  for  selling,  and 
of  a  brewer  for  buying,  various  drugs  to  adulterate  beer.  Each  was  fined  £200.  The  drugs  were  Cocu- 
lus indicus,  Grains  of  Paradise,  Liquorice,  Linseed,  Caraway,  and  Cayenne  Pepper. 

|  In  addition  to  this.  Opium,  Extract  of  Poppies,  St.  Ignatius'  Bean,  Nux  Vomtca,  Tobacco,  Bohemian 
Rosemary  and  Henbane  are  used  to  augment  the  intoxicating  quality  of  malt  liquors  ;  Aloes,  Gentian, 
Wormwooa,  Horehound,  and  Bitter  Orange,  as  a  substitute  for  hops,  and  a  vast  variety  of  articles  to  give 
flavor,  color,  consistency,  &c.  The  "  Domestic  Chemist"  enumerates  forty-six  different  articles  which 
are  used  for  the  manufacture  of  seer  and  porter. — L. 


202  COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 

Lussac  has  shown,  to  the  exclusion  of  atmospheric  air,  the  presence  of  which,  therefore, 
is  in  some  way  necessary  to  set  up  the  process  of  fermentation.* 

The  peculiar  qualities  of  the  different  kinds  of  wine  depend  on  several  circumstances  ; 
such  as  the  variety  and  place  of  growth  of  the  vine  from  which  the  wine  is  prepared — 
the  time  of  year  when  the  vintage  is  collected — the  preparation  of  the  grapes  previously 
to  tneir  being  trodden  and  pressed — and  the  various  manipulations  and  processes  adopted 
in  their  fermentation. 

The  wines  of  different  countries  are  distinguished  in  commerce  by  various  names.  The 
following  is  a  list  of  the  wines  most  commonly  met  with,  arranged  according  to  the  coun- 
tries producing  them  : — 

1.  FRENCH  WINES.— Champagne,  (of  which  we  have  the  still,  creaming, or  slightly  ^Mirkling,— l\\e  full- 
frothing,  the  white,  and  the  pink ;  Burgundy,  (red  and  while ;)  Hermitage  ;  Cutie  Rutie ;  Rousillon ;  Fron- 
tignac ;  Claret,  (the  most  esteemed  being  the  produce  of  Ijafitle,  Latour,  Chateau  Margaux,  and  Haul- 
Brion;}  Vinde  Grave;  Sauterne ;  and  Bar  sac. 

2.  SPANISH  WINES. — Sherry,  (Xeres  ;)  Tent,  (Rota;)  Mountain,  (Malaga  :)  Benicarlo,  (Alicant.) 

3.  PORTUGAL  WINES.— Port,  red  and  white,  (Oporto;)  Bucellas,  Lisbon,  Calcavalla,  and  Colares,  (Lis- 
bon.)    An  inferior  description  of  Red  Port  Wine  is  shipped  at  Figuera  and  Aveiro. 

4.  GERMAN  WINES. — Rhine  and    Moselle  Wines.     The  term  Hock,  (a  corruption  of  Hochheimer,}  is 
usually  applied  to  the  first  growths  of  the  Rhine.     The  term  Rhenish  commonly   indicates  an  inferior 
Rhine  wine. 

5.  HUNGARIAN  WINES. — Tokity. 

6.  ITALIAN  AND  SICILIAN  WINES. — Lachryma  Christi  ;  Marsala  ;  Syracuse  ;  I^issa. 

7.  GRECIAN  AND  IONIAN  WINES. — Candian  and  Cyprus  wines. 

8.  WINES  OF  MADEIRA  AND  THE  CANARY  ISLANDS.— Madeira  and  Canary,  (Teneritfr .) 

8.  WINES  OF  THE  CAPE  OF  GOOD  HOPE. — Cape  Madeira,  Pontac,  Constantia  red  and  white,  (a  sweet, 
luscious  wine,  much  esteemed.) 

10.  PERSIAN  WINES. — Shiraz. 

11.  ENGLISH  OR  HOME-MADE  WINES.— Grope,  Raisin,  Currant,  Gooseberry,  &c. 

The  composition  of  wine  is  subject  to  considerable  variation ;  but,  in  a  general  way, 
the  following  may  be  said  to  be  its  constituents : — • 

CONSTITUENTS  OF  WINE. 

Water. 

Alcohol. 

Bouquet  (volatile  oil  ?  an  ether  T) 

Sugar. 

Gum. 

Kxtractive  matter. 

Gluten  (except  when  tannin  is  present.) 

Acetic  acid. 

1'ttartratc  of  potash. 

Tart  rate  of  potash  and  :\;mina  (in  German  unnett.) 

Sulphate  of  potash. 

Chlorides  ot  potassium  and  sodium. 

Core-Ting  matter  of  the  husk  \  <'n  red  toin"-) 

Carbonic  acid  (in  Champagne  and  other  effervescing  urines.) 

1.  Doiiquel  of  Wine.— Every  wine  has  a  peculiar  odor,  called  its  perfume  or  bouquet, 
and  which  must  depend  on  the  presence  of  some  volatile  principle  generated  duri1 
process  of  vinous  fermentation.  In  some  cases,  if  not  in  all,  it  appears  to  bo  an  ether 
formed  by  the  action  of  an  organic  (fatty  ?)  acid  on  the  alcohol.  Thus  by  submitting 
wine  lees  to  distillation,  Liebig  and  Pelouze  procured  an  oily  liquor,  having  a  v'jnous  odor, 
consisting  of  cenanthic  ether  (C18  H"  O3)  mixed  with  cenanthic  acid  (Cu  H1S  O'.) 

*  Must  may  be  preserved  for  any  length  of  time  by  carefully  excluding  the  air,  although  the  tempera- 
ture be  above  60°  F.— L. 


WINE.  203 


"  The  wines  of  warm  climates,"  says  Liebig,  "  possess  no  smell ;  wines  grown  in  France 
have  it  in  a  marked  degree ;  but  in  the  wines  from  the  Rhine  the  perfume  is  most  intense. 
The  kinds  of  grapes  grown  on  the  Rhine,  which  ripen  very  late,  and  scarcely  ever  com- 
pletely, such  as  the  Riessling  and  Orleans,  have  the  strongest  perfume  or  bouquet  and 
contain,  proportionally,  a  larger  quantity  of  tartaric  acid.  The  earlier  grapes,  such  as  the 
Rulander  and  others,  contain  a  large  proportion  of  alcohol,  and  are  similar  to  Spanish 
wines  in  their  flavor,  but  they  possess  no  bouquet.  The  grapes  grown  at  the  Cape,  from 
Riesslings  transplanted  from  the  Rhine,  produce  an  excellent  wine,  which  does  not.  how- 
ever, possess  the  aroma  which  distinguishes  Rhenish  wine.  It  is  evident  from  these  facts, 
that  the  acid  of  wines,  and  their  characteristic  perfumes,  have  some  connection,  for  they 
are  always  found  together;  and  it  can  scarcely  be  doubted  that  the  presence  of  the  former 
exercises  a  certain  influence  on  the  formation  of  the  latter."* 

2.  Alcohol — The  quantity  of  alcohol  in  different  wines  has  been  already  stated,  (see  p. 
76-77.)     Wines  which  contain  a  comparatively  small  quantity  of  it  are  denominated  light 
wines ;  as  Claret,  Sauterne,  Hock,  and  Moselle  ;  while  those  which  are  rich  in  it  are 
termed  strong  or  generous  wines;  as  Lissa,  Port,  Marsala,  Madeira,  and  Sherry.     By 
keeping  them  in  casks  or  bottles  the  quantity  of  alcohol  in  them  is  modified.     Madeira 
and  Sherry  kept  for  a  moderate  term  of  years  become  somewhat  stronger;  the  sugar 
which  they  contained  becoming  slowly  converted  into  alcohol,  while  tartar  is  deposited. 
After  a  time,  that  is,  when  all  the  sugar  has  disappeared,  the  formation  of  alcohol  ceases, 
and  from  this  period  the  strength  of  the  wine  diminishes,  partly  by  the  evaporation  of  the 
spirit  through  the  sides  of  the  cask,  and  partly  by  its  conversion  into  other  substances,  as 
acetic  acid. 

3.  Sugar. — This  is  a  constituent  of  many  wines.     Those  in  which  it  is  very  abundant 
are  called  sweet  or  luscious  wines.     Tokay,  Tent,  Frontignac,  Lunel,  Rivesalte,  Constantia, 
and  Malmsey,  are  examples.     In  these  the  process  of  fermentation  has  been  arrested  be- 
fore all  the  sugar  was  decomposed.     Those  wines,  on  the  other  hand,  in  which  all  the 
saccharine  matter  has  disappeared,  are  called  dry.     Examples  of  this  are  frequently  found 
in  Sherry. 

4.  Acids. — All  wines  are  more  or  less  acidulous,  as  determined  by  litmus.     This  has 
been  in  general  attributed  to  malic  acid;  but  Dumas  thinks  that  the  presence  of  this  acid 
in  wine  is  very  doubtful.     In  old  and  spoiled  wines,  as  well  as  in  the  wines  of  the  more 
northern  countries,  acetic  acid  is  often  found.     The  brisk,  frothing,  sparkling  or  effervescent 
wines,  as  Champagne,  which  have  been  bottled  before  fermentation  is  complete,  though 
without  its  being  arrested,  owe  their  peculiar  properties  to  carbonic  acid  retained  in  solu- 
tion under  pressure.     Some  wines,  as  Port,  contain  tannic  acid,  to  which  they  owe  their 
roughness  and  astringency.     They  derive  this  from  the  husk,  and  perhaps  in  part  from 
the  seeds,  of  the  grape.     The  acidity  of  some  wine  depends  on  bitartrate  of  potash. 

5.  Coloring  matter.— All  wines  contain  more  or  less  coloring  matter ;  but  those  which 

*  The  origin  of  the  odoriferous  substances  obtained  in  the  fermentation  of  must,  may  be  illustrated 
by  some  familiar  examples.  During  the  fermentation  of  the  Lesser  Centaury  plant,  which  possesses  no 
smell,  a  true  etherial  oil  is  generated,  having  an  agreeable  penetrating  odor,  exciting  a  pricking  sensa- 
tion in  the  eyes,  and  a  flow  of  tears.  The  leaves  of  the  tobacco  plant  possess  little  or  no  smell  when 
fresh  ;  but  as  soon  as  fermentation  commences,  they  emit  the  characteristic  smell  of  prepared  tobacco 
and  snuff.  Nicotine,  which  possesses  all  the  properties  of  a  base,  was  not  present  before  the  fermen- 
tation, but  generated  during  the  process.  Arsenic  and  Arsenious  add  are  entirely  inodorous  in  their 
natural  state,  but  emit  the  odor  of  garlic  during  their  oxidation.  The  oil  of  the  be  ries  of  the  elder- 
tree,  many  kinds  of  oil  of  turpentine,  and  oil  of  lemons,  possess  a  smell  only  during  theif  oxidation  or  de- 
cay. The  same  is  the  case  with  many  blossoms ;  and  the  smell  of  musk,  Geiger  states,  is  due  to  its 
gradual  putrefaction. -  L. 


204  COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 


are  prepared  without  the  husk  of  the  grape  are  pale,  and  are  denominated  while  icines, — 
as  Sherry,  Madeira,  and  Bucellas.     But  if  the  husk  of  the  dark-colored  grapes  be  pr 
during  fermentation,  the  wine  acquires  a  deep  color,  and  is  called  red  wine.     By  exposure 
to  the  sun,  as  well  as  by  age,  the  color  diminishes. 

6.  Tarirales. — The  most  important  saline  constituent  of  wine  is  Tartar,  (Bitartrate  of 
Potash,)  which  deposits,  along  with  coloring  and  extractive  matters,  both  in  the  cork  and 
bottle,  constituting  argol,  the  crusl,  the  bees'  wing,  &c.  The  deposition  augments  with 
the  formation  of  alcohol.  Tarlrate  of  Lime  is  usually  found  along  with  tartar  in  wine; 
and  in  the  German  wines,  Berzelius  mentions  that  there  exists  the  Tarlrate  of  Alumina 
and  Potash, 

Wine,  when  used  in  moderate  quantities,  as  to  the  extent  of  two  or  three  glasses  daily, 
proves  a  very  grateful,  and  to  those  who  have  been  accustomed  to  it,  an  almost  indispen- 
sable stimulant.  It  quickens  the  action  of  the  heart  and  blood-vessels,  diffuses  an  agreea- 
ble warmth  through  the  system,  promotes  the  different  secretions,  augments  the  muscular 
force  and  activity,  excites  the  mental  powers,  and  banishes  unpleasant  ideas  and  reflections. 

Many  persons,  who  have  during  a  considerable  period  of  their  lives  accustomed  ilu-m- 
selves  to  the  daily  but  moderate  use  of  wine,  have  attained  a  good  old  age  ;  and  it  cannot, 
therefore,  be  denied,  that  the  most  perfect  health  is  quite  compatible  with  the  moderate 
enjoyment  of  wine. 

It  must  be  admitted,  I  think,  that  wiiie  proves  a  most  valuable  restorative  when  the 
powers  of  the  body  and  mind  have  been  enfeebled  by  fatigue.     Its  daily  use,  therefore, 
is  more  adapted  for  those  who  lead  a  life  of  great  activity,  or  whose  occupatin: 
laborious,  than  for  the  indolent  and  sedentary.     To  the  former  it  proves  a  very  agreeable 
stimulus.     Taken  after  tie  fatigues  of  the  day  are  over,  it  assists  in  recruiting  i 
hausted  energies. 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  it  cannot  be  denied  that  the  most  perfect  health  is  compatible 
with  total  abstinence  from  wine  ;  and  that  the  habitual  employment  of  it,  especially  by  the 
indolent  and  sedentary,  is  calculated,  in  many  instances,  to  prove  injurious.  To  a  \ 
in  perfect  health,  and  who  has  been  unaccustomed  to  it,  no  possible  ben.  lit  c;uj  accrue 
from  commencing  its  use.  The  preternatural  excitement  which,  in  these  cases,  it  would 
occasion,  must  be  followed  by  a  corresponding  degree  of  depression.  Even  though  no 
sensible  injury  may  result  therefrom,  no  benefit  can  be  expected  to  result.  The  habit  of 
using  this  stimulus  creates  a  want  for  it;  and  thus  it  often  happens,  that  those  who  have 
accustomed  themselves  to  the  temperate  use  of  wine,  suffer  when  they  are  deprive. 1  of  it. 
The  "artificial  states  of  the  constitution,"  says  Dr.  Christison,  "produced  by  the  h;r 
civilized  life,  are  supposed  to  render  it,  for  some  people,  a  necessary  stimulant,  especially 
during  exposure  to  unusual  fatigue.  So  far-do  some  carry  this  notion  in  the  upper  ranks 
of  society,  as  to  follow  the  strange  practice  of  allowing  wine  daily,  and  in  conn •.'. 
quantity,  even  to  young  healthy  children.  Very  few  constitutions  of  this  kind  really  ex- 
ist among  those  who  are  willing  to  think  they  themselves  possess  it." 

Dr.  Paris  asserts  that  "  there  exists  no  evidence  to  prove  that  a  temperate  use  of  good 
wine,  when  taken  at  seasonable  hours,  has  ever  proved  injurious  to  healthy  adu' 
am  by  no  means  disposed  to  question  the  accuracy  of  this  statement,  since  he  lias  so 
qualified  it,  that  in  almost  any  case  where  ill  effects  result  from  the  use  of  wine,  they 
may  be  ascribed  to  the  non-fulfilment  of  some  of  he  conditions  here  mentioned  :  viz.  the 
temperate  use  of  the  wine, — the  goodness  of  the  liquor, — the  seasonable  time  of  taking  it, — 
or  the  health  of  the  individual.  All  I  would  assert  is,  that,  for  healthy  individuals,  wine 
is  an  unnecessary  article  of  diet. 

The  actual  arruunt  of  injury  which  may  be  inflicted  on  the  system  by  the  use  of  wine 

) 


WINE. 


205     f] 


depends  on  the  quality  and  quantity  of  the  liquid  used,  and  on  the  greater  or  less  predis- 
position to  disease  which  may  exist  in  the  system.  Disorders  of  the  digestive  organs  a.id 
of  the  brain,  gout,  gravel,  and  dropsy,  are  the  maladies  most  likely  to  be  induced  o.  ag- 
gravated by  the  use  of  wine.  Intoxication,  in  its  varied  forms,  is  the  effect  of  the  excess- 
ive use  of  it. 

Though  the  effects  of  wines  depend,  in  the  main,  on  the  alcohol  which  these  liquids 
contain,  yet  they  differ  from  those  of  ardent  spirit  in  several  respects.  In  the  first  place, 
wine  possesses  a  tonic  influence  not  observed  after  the  use  of  spirit.  Common  experience 
proves  to  every  one  that  the  stimulant  influence  of  wine  is  slower  in  its  production  and 
subsidence  than  that  of  spirit.  On  this  accoutf  wine  is  Employed  as  a  tonic  or  corrobo- 
rant in  the  convalescence  after  lingering  diseases.  Secondly,  the  diseases  induced  by  the 
excessive  indulgence  in  wine  are  somewhat  different  from  those  caused  by  alcohol.  De- 
lirium tremens,  and  diseased  liver,  are  the  common  maladies  of  spirit-drinkers ;  whereas 
these  affections  rarely,  if  indeed  they  ever,  follow  the  use  of  wine  merely.  But,  on  the 
other  hand,  gravel  and  gout  are  frequent  consequences  of  habitual  over-indulgence  in 
wine,  while  they  much  less  frequently  result  from  the  use  of  spirit.  Thirdly,  while  wine- 
drinkers  are  frequently  fat,  lusty,  and  plethoric,— spirit-drinkers  are  generally  thin  and 
emaciated,  (see  p.  27.)  Lastly,  the  intoxicating  influence  of  wine  is  not  equal  to  that  of 
mixtures  of  ardent  spirit  and  water  of  corresponding  strengths,  nor  proportionate,  in  dif- 
ferent wines,  to  the  relative  quantities  of  alcohol  which  they  contain.  This  will  be  ob- 
vious from  the  following  table,  drawn  up  from  Mr.  Brande's  results,  before  quoted,  (see 
p.  76,  et  seq. :) — 

AVERAGE  QUANTITIES  OF  ARDENT  SPIRIT  AND  OF  WINE,  CONTAINING  FOUR 
FLUID  OUNCES  OF  ALCOHOL,  (sp.  gr.  0-825  at  60  F.) 

Brandy,  about     ....      8  fluid  ounces.  I  Claret 26*  fluid  ounces. 

Tort  Wine 18s-        ditto.        |  Champagne 32        ditto. 

Now  it  appears  from  this  table,  that  if  the  intoxicating  power  of  vinous  liquids  were  in 
proportion  to  the  spirit  contained  in  them,  that  a  pint  of  Port  wine  would  be  almost  equal 
to  half  a  pint  of  brandy,  and  that  Claret  would  exceed  Champagne  in  its  influence  over 
the  nervous  system :  all  of  which  we  know  not  to  be  the  case.  It  is,  therefore,  obvious, 
that  the  action  of  the  alcohol  on  the  animal  economy  is  modified  in  the  wine  by  the  water 
and  vegetable  matters  with  which  it  is  either  combined  or  mixed. 

Some  doubt  on  this  point  has  been  recently  expressed  by  Dr.  Christison,  who  observes, 
that  "  wine  is  generally  considered  less  inebriating  than  its  equivalent  alcohol,  in  any 
other  shape.  And  this  fact  has  been  vaguely  referred  to  its  alcohol  being  in  a  peculiar 
state  of  combination,  so  as  to  be  more  easiiy,digestible.  Notwithstanding,"  he  adds,  "the 
general  admission  of  this  peculiarity, in  the  effects  of  wine,  doubts  may  be  entertained  of 
the  doctrine  being  so  unequivocal,  or  so  generally  applicable,  as  late  authors  on  wine 
have  maintained ;  and  I  suspect  it  is  founded,  in  part,  on  the  mistaken  notions  that  have 
prevailed  as  to  the  alcoholic  strength  of  wines,  which  has  been  overrated  by  analysts, — 
and  partly  on  a  disregard  of  the  influence  of  habit,  which  seems  to  render  one  species  of 
alcoholic  fluid  more  digestible,  or  in  some  other  way  less  stimulating,  than  another." 

I  am  inclined  to  agree  with  Dr.  Chrisfison  in  the  belief  that  the  alcoholic  strength  of 
wines  has  been  overrated  by  analysts.  But  I  believe  that  the  same  has  been  done  with 
regard  to  the  strength  of  ardent  spirits,  as  ordinarily  found  in  the  shops ;  both  brandy 
and  gin,  but  especially  the  latter,  being  usually  sold  considerably  below  the  strength 
stated  by  Mr.  Brande.  So  that  though  the  actual  quantity  of  alcohol  in  both  wines  and 
spirits  n  ay  be  overrated,  yet  the  relative  proportions  are  probably  correct,  or  nearly  so; 


206  COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 

and  the  inferences  which  have  been  drawn  as  to  the  comparative  effects  oi  the  alcohol 
contained  in  these  liquids,  are,  perhaps,  not  far  from  the  truth.     It  appears  to  me,  there-  , 
fore,  that   the   evidence  of  the   modifying  influence  exercised   by  the  other  ingredients 
of  wine  on  the  alcohol  contained  therein,  is  greater  than  Dr.  Ghristison  is  disposed  to 
admit. 

Old  wines,  it  is  well  known,  are  less  intoxicating  than  new  ones.  This  is  usually  as- 
cribed to  th?  chemical  union  which  is  ultimately  effected  between  the  alcohol  and  the 
water,  by  which  the  inebriating  power  of  the  spirit  is  lessened.  But  it  is  probably  due, 
fjr  the  most  part,  to  the  diminished  alcoholic  strength  of  the  old  wine  ;  for  Dr.  Christi- 
son's  experiments  have  shown  that  the  ata)holic  strength  of  wines  does  not  increase  with 
age,  as  many  persons  have  supposed. 

The  precise  changes  which  the  alcohol  undergoes  in  wine  are  at  present  but  imper- 
fectly known.  Dumas  says  that  it  doubtless  passes  gradually  into  the  state  of  ether  by 
combining  with  the  different  acids  contained  or  produced  in  wine,  and  by  which  its  ine- 
briating power  must  be  diminished,  or  perhaps  otherwise  modified.  He  also  suggests  that 
there  may  be  different  kinds  of  alcohol,  having  a  similar  relation  to  each  other  that  phos- 
phoric acid  bears  to  pyrophosphoric  acid  ;  and  that  thus  the  alcohol  of  old  wines  may  be 
possessed  of  somewhat  different  properties  to  that  of  new  wines. 

It  is  obvious,  therefore,  that  there  is  not  a  priori  any  thing  improbable  in  the  opinion 
commonly  entertained  by  connoisseurs  in  wine,  that  a  brandied  wine  (i.  e.  wine  to  which 
brandy  has  been  added)  is  more  intoxicating  than  a  non-brandied  wine  of  equal  strength. 
The  wine-growers  of  Bourgogne  have  long  acted  on  this  principle.  In  cold  or  rail 
sons,  when  the  grape  is  deficient  in  sugar,  and  in  consequence  yields  a  poor  wine,  they 
prefe.'  adding  sugar  to  the  must,  instead  of  adding  alcohol  to  the  wine.  "  Formerly."  .-ays 
Dumas,  "  it  was  supposed  that  when  wine  was  deficient  in  alcohol,  this  ingredient,  in 
proper  quantity,  might  be  added  to  it  to  give  the  proper  quality.  Now,  however,  who- 
ever considers  the  phenomena  of  fermentation,  will  not  hesitate  to  admit  that  the  addition 
of  sugar  to  the  must  is  a  very  different  thing  to  the  addition  of  spirit  to  the  wine:  for 
sugar,  in  fermenting,  produces  a  chemical  movement  in  which  all  .the  dilf-p-nt  mat 
of  the  must  concur."* 

In  forming  an  opinion  as  to  the  kind  of  wine  best  fitted  for  dietetical  use,  we  must  con- 
sider the  color,  the  alcoholic  strength  and  intoxicating  property,  the  -  .  the  nature 
and  quantity  of  acid  which  it  contains,  and  the  age  of  the  wine.  Red  wines  contain  more 
extractive  and  coloring  matters,  (derived  from  the  husk  of  the  grape,)  which  are  apt  to 
disagree  with  some  dyspeptics.  Strong  wines  are  more  likely  to  prove  injurious  that: 
ones.  But  the  inebriating  quality  of  wine  is  not  proportional  to  the  quantity  of  contained 
alcohol.  Sweet  wines  are  objectionable  in  dyspeptic  and  some  urinary  ti  te  dia- 
betes. Acid  wines  are  improper  for  rheumatic  and  gouty  subjects.  Old  wiius  are,  in 

*  It  is  very  possible  that  the  othei  ingredients  contained  in  wine  may  modify,  in  some  degree,  tlir 
of  the  alcohol;  but  we  helievc  that  the  difference  in  the  intoxicating  power  of  wine  and  ttv.it  of  the  ordi- 
na*y  mixtures  of  water  with  the  same  proportion  of  alcohol,  if  such  difference  really  cxi>:s.  U  owing 
more  to  the  ultimate  combination  of  the  alcohol  with  the  water  in  the  former,  than  to  any  peculiar  effect 
of  the  oilier  vegetable  matters  contained  in  it.  3Iu.  Brande  states  that  when  brandy  and  water  are 
mixed  and  allowed  to  remain  in  combination  for  some  time,  the  intoxicating  power  is  not  greater  than  that 
of  wine  containing  an  equivalent  of  brandy.  We  know  that  a  given  quantity  of  brandy  and  water  re- 
cently mixed,  exerts  a  more  intoxicating  elfect  than  if  allowed  to  stand  for  some  time.  It  is  pronably  ow- 
ing to  the  same  fact  that  newly  fermented  win«'s.  as  above  staled,  are  more  powerfully  intoxicating  than 
old,  alternation  evidently,  in  both  cases,  causing  the  difference  between  them.  After  all,  we  1  «lieve  the 
difference  is  more  apparent  than  real  — L. 


WINE.  207 


general,  to  be  preferred  to  new  ones  ;  for,  in  the  first  place,  their  alcoholic  strength  is 
somewhat  less  ;  and,  secondly,  by  keeping,  wines  deposit  bitartrate  of  potash,  and  color- 
ing and  extractive  matters,  which  are  apt  to  disagree  with  some  constitutions.  Liebig 
says,  that  minute  crystals  of  uric  acid  are  deposited  from  the  urine  after  the  use  of  those 
wines  in  which  the  alkali  necessary  to  retain  the  uric  acid  in  solution  is  wanting  ;  but 
that  this  is  never  observed  from  the  use  of  Rhenish  wines,  which  contain  so  much 
tartar. 

On  the  whole,  I  am  inclined  to  think,  that,  of  the  stronger  wines  employed  in  England 
good  dry  Sherry  is  best  fitted  for  dietetical  use.  It  is  devoid  of  the  extractive  and  color- 
ing matters  found  in  red  wine,  and  is  free  both  from  acid  and  sugar.  In  general,  how- 
ever, I  think  the  lighter  or  weaker  wines  preferable  ;  and  of  those  commonly  used  in 
England  Claret  appears  to  me  the  best* 

1.  Sherry. — This  is  made  in  Spain,  near  Xeres,  and  is  exported  from  Cadiz.  "  From 
the  gradual  mixture  of  wines  of  various  ages,"  says  Mr.  Busby  ,f  "no  wine  can  be  further 
from  what  may  be  called  a  natural  wine  than  sherry."  Boiled  must,  (of  the  consistence 
of  treacle,  and  having  a  similar  flavor,  but  with  a  strong  empyreumatic  taste,)  is  employed 
to  deepen  its  color.  Amontillado,  or  Montillado,  (a  very  dry  kind  of  sherry,)  is  added  to 
sherries  which  are  deficient  in  the  nutty  flavor.  Being  very  light  in  color,  it  is  also  used 
to  reduce  the  color  of  sherries  which  are  too  high.  Brandy  is  added  to  sherry  before  it  is 
shipped,  but  never  in  greater  quantities  than  four  or  five  per  cent. 

Sherry  varies  considerably  in  the  depth  of  its  color  ;  and  London  wholesale  dealers  dis- 
tinguish five  kinds,  called  respectively,  very  pale,  pale,  golden,  brown,  and  very  brown;  and 
occasionally  an  extra  very  pale,  and  an  extra  very  brown,  are  met  with.  Some  years  since 
fashion  ran  on  pale  sherries,  and  to  meet  the  demand  the  wine-growers  made  their 
wines  from  the  grapes  before  they  were  quite  ripe,  and  the  consequence  was,  an  inferior 
class  of  wines  was  exported  ;  and  had  the  fashion  continued,  the  characters  of  sherries 
would  have  been  greatly  altered.  But  the  inferior  quality  of  the  pale  sherries,  thus 
produced,  led  to  a  change  in  the  fashion,  and  now  dark  or  brown  sherries  (colored  as 
before  stated)  are  run  after.  It  should,  however,  be  remembered,  that  color  is  no  crite- 
rion of  the  goodness  of  sherry. 

I  have  already  stated  that  of  the  stronger  wines  sherry  is  preferable  for  ordinary  use, 
on  account  of  its  great  freedom  from  acid,  sugar,  coloring,  and  extractive  matters.  It  is, 
therefore,  the  least  injurious  of  the  strong  wines  for  gouty  persons,  as  well  as  for  those 
troubled  with  acidity  of  stomach,  and  for  the  lithic  acid  diathesis. 

2.  Port-Wine. — This  is  manufactured  on  the  banks  of  the  Douro,  and  is  exported  fiom 
Oporto.  It  is  made  from  round  black  grapes,  (see  pp.  169-170,)  and  owes  its  color  and 
astringency,  when  pure,  to  the  husks  and  stalks  of  the  grapes  which  are  contained  in  the 
fermenting  juice. 

To  augment  the  strength  of  this  wine  brandy  is  added  to  it.  In  Portugal  the  juice  of 
the  elderberry  has  been  employed  to  augment  the  color.  To  such  an  extent  was  this  at 
one  time  practised,  that  the  wine  company  of  Portugal  rooted  out  the  elder-trees,  and 
prohibited  their  growth  in  the  wine  district.  Kino,  it  is  said,  is  used  to  give  roughness  or 
astringency  to  Port-wine. 

Old  Port-wine  has  a  duller,  browner,  and  paler  tint  than  new  wine,  which  has  a  more 
purplish,  red  or  ruby  tint,  and  a  brighter  though  deeper  color.  To  detect  the  shades  of 
color,  dealers  use  small  silver  dishes,  called  tasters,  having  raised  bottoms,  by  the  reflect- 
ed light  from  which,  the  color  of  the  wine  is  readily  perceived.  In  order  to  imitate  age, 

*  Appendix  16.  t  Visit  to  the  Vineyards  of  Spain  and  France.     Lond.  1834. 


208  COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 


dealers  sometimes  add  white  Port-wine  to  the  red  kind  ;  but  I  am  informed  that  the  crust 
which  is  deposited  is  never  good  and  firm. 

Port-wine  belongs  to  the  class  of  stronger  wines.  It  more  frequently  disagrees  with  in- 
dividuals than  sherry ;  but  to  this  statement  many  exceptions  occur.  It  is  more  apt  to 
disorder  the  head  and  the  stomach,  and  to  constipate  the  bowels,  than  sherry.  It  is  popu- 
larly supposed  to  be  more  strengthening  than  the  other  kinds  of  wines  ;  and,  according- 
ly, is  more  frequently  resorted  to  as  a  medicine.  On  account  of  its  astringency  it  is 
particularly  adapted  for  those  cases  which  are  attended  with  a  relaxed  condition  of 
the  bowels. 

3.  Madeira. — This  wine,  the  produce  of  the  island  whose  name  it  bears,  is  in  general 
somewhat  stronger  and  more  acid  than  sherry.     Before  it  is  shipped,  brandy  is  usually 
added  to  it.     In  order  to  improve  its  quality  it  is  frequently  sent  a  voyage  to  the  East 
Indies.     Heat  and  agitation  are  probably  the  effective  agents  in  this  improvement.     Ma- 
deira is  well  adapted  for  old  persons  and  debilitated  constitutions,  where  its  slight  acidity 
is  not  objectionable.     It  is  an  excellent  wine  for  invalids ;  but  its  acidity  sometimes  causes 
it  to  disagree. 

4.  CJiampagne. — This  wine  is  called  after  the  province  of  France  of  which  it  is  the  pro- 
duce.    It  is  usually  procured  from  a  black  grape.     The  Champagne  wines  are  generally 
divided  into  the  white,  and  the  red  or  pink ;  and  each  of  these  again  into  the  still  and  the 
sparkling.     Of  the  still  Champagne  that  called  Sillery  is  generally  admitted  to  be  th- 
in England,  however,  the  sparkling  Champagne  is  usually  preferred;  and  of  Mils  the 
wine  of  Ay  is  considered  the  best;  that  which  merely  creams  on  the  surface  /r;/ii- 
mousseux')  being  more  esteemed  than  the  full-frothing,  (grand-mousseux.)     The  sparklinir, 
creaming,  or  frothing  of  these  wines  depends  on  the  evolution  of  carbonic  ac.d  gas. 

If  carbonic  acid  gas  be  condensed  into  ordinary  white  wine,  it  usually  renders  the  lat- 
ter turbid,  owing  to  the  precipitation  of  gliadine  contained  in  the  wine.  But  by  the  pre- 
vious addition  of  tannin  (which  precipitates  the  gliadine)  this  may  be  prevented. 

Champagne  is  an  exhilarating  wine,  which  speedily  produces  intoxication;  it  also  acts 
as  a  diuretic.     It  excites  lively  and  agreeable  feelings,  and  is,  in  consequence,  adap 
hypochondriacal  cases  ;  it  is  very  apt,  however,  to  occasion  headache.     On  account  of  its 
effervescing  property  it  is  occasionally  useful  in  allaying  sickness  and  vomiting.     It  is  ob- 
jectionable in  gouty  subjects. 

5.  German  Wines. — These  are  produced  principally  on  the  banks  of  the  Rhine  and  the 
Mobile.     They  are  light  wines,  and  remarkable,  as  I  have  already  stated,  for  their  very 
powerful  bouquet,  (see  p.  203,)  as  well  as  for  containing  tartrate  of  alumina  and  potash, 
(see  p.  204.)     "  A  notion  prevails  that  they  are  naturally  acid  ;  and  the  inferior  kinds,  no 
doubt,  are  so :  but  this  is  not  the  constant  character  of  the  Rhine  wines,  which  in  good 
years  have  no  perceptible  acidky  to  the  taste,  at  least  not  more  than  is  common  to  them 
with  the  growths  of  warmer  regions.     Their  chief  distinction  is  their  extreme  dura- 
bility." 

The  Johannisberger  stands  at  the  head  of  the  Rhine  wines.  It  has  a  very  choice  flavor 
and  perfume,  and  is  characterized  by  an  almost  total  want  of  acidity.  Steinberger  ranks 
next ;  and  after  this  follow  Rudcsheimer,  Hochheimer,  &c.  In  England  the  term  Hock,  (a 
corruption  of  Hochheimer)  is  usually  applied  to  the  first  growths  of  the  Rhine ;  while 
the  inferior  Rhine  wines  are  simply  called  Rhenish  wines. 

Of  the  Moselle  wines  the  Schartzberger  is  deservedly  esteemed. 

The  German  wines  of  good  quality,  are,  in  general,  light  and  wholesome  ;  though  they 
are  occasionally  objectionable  on  account  of  their  acidulous  character.  They  prove 
diuretic  and  slightly  aperient.  Liebig  asserts  that  crystals  of  uric  acid  are  never  de* 


WINE.  209 


posited  from  the  urine  under  their  use,  on  account  of  the  tartar  which  they  hold  in  solu- 
tion. 

6.  Claret  Wines. — Under  this  name  are  generally  included  the  red  wines  of  France, 
which  are  produced  in  the  districts  adjoining  Bourdeaux.    The  most  esteemed  are,  Lafilie, 
Latour,  Chateau-Margaux,  and  Haut-Brion.     They  are  light  and  wholesome  wines,  and 
well  adapted  for  the  table ;  though  in  gouty  and  rheumatic  subjects,  and  in  sonip  cases  of 
dyspepsia,  they  prove  injurious  by  their  acidity. 

7.  Burgundy. — This  wine  enjoys  the  highest  reputation  on  the  continent.     It  is  stimu- 
lant and  somewhat  astringent.     It  is  apt  to  occasion  headache  or  indigestion.* 

Other  intoxicating  drinks. — Among  European  nations  alcohol  is  the  basis  of  the  ine- 
briating drinks  in  ordinary  use.  But  by  the  Mahometan,  and  other  oriental  nations, 
Opium  and  Hemp  are  employed  for  producing  intoxication.  The  consideration  of  these, 
however,  scarcely  falls  within  the  scope  of  the  present  work  ;  and  I  must,  therefore,  re- 
fer the  reader  to  my  Elements  of  Materia  Medica  for  full  details  respecting  the  effects  and 
uses  of  these  and  other  narcotic  substances,  (Tobacco  for  example,)  which  are  used  as 
inebriants. 

3.  CONDIMENTS,  OR  SEASONING  AGENTS. 

The  namo  of  Condiment  is  usually  given  to  those  substances  which  are  taken  with 
foods  for  the  immediate  purpose  of  improving  their  flavor.  But  most,  of  them  serve  other, 
and  much  more  important,  purposes  in  the  animal  economy,  than  that  of  merely  gratify- 
ing the  palate.  Most  of  them  are,  in  fact,  alimentary  substances — as  Sugar,  Oil  or  Fat, 
and  Vegetable  Acids.  Common  Salt,  which  by  most  dietetical  writers  is  spoken  of  as  if 
it  were  a  mere  luxury, — as  if  its  use  were  to  gratify  the  palate  merely, — is  essential  to 
health  and  life,  and  is  as  much  an  aliment  or  food  as  either  bread  or  flesh.  "  Without 
salt,  or  some  other  mineral  substance  which  can  be  substituted  for  it,  as  chloride  of  potas- 
sium, no  solid  substance  could  be  taken  into  the  system ;  nor,  if  it  could  be  taken  into 
the  blood,  could  the  albumen  there  be  retained  iti  solution;  nor  could  the  changes  which 
are  requisite  for  life  take  place  in  the  tissues;  nor  could  any  bile  be  formed.  As  hy- 
drochloric acid  is  found  in  the  stomach,  and  soda  in  the  bile  and  blood,  it  must  be  sup- 
posed that  there  exists  some  power  in  the  body  by  which  the  chloride  of  sodium  is  de- 
composed."! 

But  all  the  substances  employed  as  condiments  are  not  necessary  to  our  existence; 
and  accordingly  they  are  not  assimilated.  This  is  the  case  with  the  aromatic  and  pun- 
gent condiments,  the  volatile  oil  of  which  is,  in  many  cases,  thrown  out  of  the  system  un- 
changed ;  as  in  the  case  of  Onions.  The  purpose  which  these  substances  serve  in  the 
animal  economy  is  not  very  obvious ;  but  it  is  probable  that  they  promote  the  activity  of 
the  assimilating  organs,  by  acting  as  stimuli ;  and  in  some  cases,  perhaps,  they  may  serve 
to  correct  the  injurious  qualities  of  the  foods  with  which  they  are  taken. 

The  following  are  the  orders  of  condiments  usually  admitted.  It  will  be  seen  that  they 
have  been  already  noticed  in  other  parts  of  this  work: — 

1.  Saline  Condiments,  (see  Common  Salt,  p.  107.) 

2.  Acidulous  Condiments,  {see  Acetic  Acid,  p.  72;  Citric  Acid,  p.  73;  and  Lemon  Juice,  p.  72.) 

3.  Oily  Condiments,  (see  the  Fixed  Oils,  p.  80.) 

4.  Saccharine  Condiments,  (see  The  Saccharine  Alimentary  Principle,  p.  55.) 

5.  Aromatic  and  Pungent  Condiments,  (see  The  Volatile  or  Essential  Oils,  p.  88.) 

*  Appendix,  17.  t  On  Gravel,  Calculus,  and  Gout,  by  H.  Bence  Jones  M.  A.,  p.  46.    Lond.  1842. 

14 


r~ 

210  COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 


Under  the  name  of  Sauces  are  used,  at  the  table,  mixtures  of  various  condimentary  and 
alimentary  substances.  Salt  and  spices  are  essential  ingredients  of  them,  and  vinegar 
enters  into  the  composition  of  several.  Ketchup,  (made  either  from  Mushrooms  or  Wal- 
nuts,) (Soy,  and  Essence  of  Anchovies,  are  the  sauces  in  most  frequent  use.  These  sub- 
stances are  seldom  employed  in  sufficient  quantity  to  prove  injurious  by  themselves ; 
though  by  provoking  the  appetite,  and  thereby  promoting  the  use  of  indigestible  sub- 
stances, they  frequently  prove  indirectly  injurious.  By  invalids  and  convalescents  they 
should,  therefore,  be  carefully  avoided. 

"Condiments,"  says  Dr.  Beaumont,*  "particularly  those  of  the  spicy  kind,  are  non- 
essential  to  the  process  of  digestion,  in  a  healthy  state  of  the  system.  They  afford  no 
nutrition.  Though  they  may  assist  the  action  of  a  debilitated  stomach  for  a  time,  their 
continual  use  never  fails  to  produce  an  indirect  debility  of  that  organ.  They  affect  it  as 
alcohol  or  other  stimulants  do — the  present  relief  afforded  is  at  the  expense  of  future  suffer- 
ing. Salt  and  Vinegar  are  exceptions,  and  are  not  noxious  to  this  charge,  when  used  in 
moderation.  They  both  assist  in  digestion, — vinegar,  by  rendering  muscular  fibre  more 
tender — and  both  together  by  producing  a  fluid  having  some  analogy  to  the  gastric 
juice." 

t  Expcrimentt  ana  Observations  on  the  Gastric  Juict  and  the  Physiology  of  Digestion,  u.  40  Edinb. 
1838. 


PART  IL— OF   DIET. 


IN  this  part  of  my  work  I  propose  to  consider  briefly  the  adaptation  of  aliment  to  the  dif- 
ferent wants  and  conditions  of  human  existence.  But  as  it  involves  the  consideration  of 
the  digestibility  and  nutritious  quality  of  foods,  as  well  as  of  the  times  best  fitted  for  eating, 
I  propose  to  offer  a  few  remarks  on  these  subjects,  before  proceeding  to  the  examination 
of  dietaries  and  the  dietetical  treatment  of  diseases. 

CHAP.  I.— Of  the  Digestibility  of  Food. 

The  term  assimilation,  as  used  in  its  most  general  sense,  by  Dr.  Prout,  has  been  applied     ti 
to  those  processes  by  which  alimentary  substances  are  converted  into  the  organized  tissues    | 
of  the  body :  primary  «u$imilation  comprising  those  concerned  in  the  conversion  of  food 
into  blood  ; — secondary  assimilation,  those  by  which  organized  or  living  textures  are  formed 
from  the  blood,  and  afterwards  redissolved  and  removed  from  the  system. 

I  need  hardly  explain  that  digestion  is  one  of  the  primary  assimilating  processes.  It 
comprehends  those  changes  effected  on  the  food  in  the  stomach  and  intestines ;  and  is 
partly  a  mechanical,  but  principally  a  chemical  process.  Dr.  Prout  speaks  of  it  as  being 
'likewise  a  vitalizing  process. 

Most  of  the  welUascertained  changes  effected  in  the  food  in  the  stomach  can  be  produ- 
ced out  of  the  body.  By  digestion  starch  is  converted  into  gum  and  sugar  :  oily  or  fatty 
bodies  are  minutely  divided,  (not  dissolved,)  and  formed  into  a  kind  of  emulsion  :  protei- 
naceous  substances  (fibrine,  albumen,  caseine,  and  gluten)  are  dissolved  or  liquefied  in 
the  stomach,  and  afterwards  precipitated  in  the  duodenum.  Now  all  these  processes 
can  be  imitated  out  of  the  body.  Thus  fibrine  or  coagulated  albumen  can  be  dissolved 
either  in  the  gastric  juice  withdrawn  from  the  stomach,  or  in  an  artificial  digestive  liquor 
prepared  by  macerating  the  dried  lining  membrane  of  the  fourth  stomach  of  the  calf  in 
water  acidulated  with  hydrochloric  acid,  (see  p.  35.) 

The  saccharine  matter,  the  emulsified  oily  or  fatty  substxnces,  and  the  finely  divided 
or  redissolved  proteinaceous  matters  are  absorbed,  and  pass  into  the  chyle. 

The  formation  or  secretion  of  the  matters  necessary  to  produce  the  requisite  chemical 
changes  in  the  food,  is,  as  far  as  we  at  present  know,  a  vital  act.  To  dissolve  the  pro- 
teinaceous compounds  two  substances  are  required,  an  acid  (hydrochloric)  and  a  matter 
called  pepsine  or  chymosine.  According  to  Dumas,  the  first  softens  these  bodies  and 
causes  them  to  swell  up, — the  second  determines  their  liquefaction. 

Without  adopting  the  fermentation  hypothesis  of  digestion,  to  which  I  have  already 
(see  p.  35)  offered  some  objections,  the  necessity  of  certain  agents  in  the  stomach  to 
effect  the  solution  or  liquefaction  of  the  food  is  obvious;  aul  if  we  admit  that  these  are 
formed  by  the  vital  powers,  we  can  readily  comprehend  how,  in  certain  morbid  condi- 
tions of  the  organism,  the  digestive  agents  are  altered  in  their  nature,  and  the  natural  and 
healthy  process  of  digestion  thereby  deranged. 


212  COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 


The  digestibility  of  food  is  affected  by  two  classes  of  circumstances ; — the  one  relating 
to  the  foods  themselves,  the  other  to  those  of  the  individual  or  the  organism. 

1.  Digestibility  of  food  affected  by  circumstances  relating  to  the  foods  themselves. — A  variety 
of  circumstances  affect  the  facility  with  which  different  kinds  of  foods  undergo  digestion. 
Some  foods  ^re  naturally  more  difficult  of  digestion  than  others.  This  is  especially  the 
case  with  th<3  oily  or  fatty  substances.  I  have,  however,  already  fully  considered  the 
subject,  and  I,  therefore,  beg  to  refer  my  readers  to  the  opinions  before  expressed,  (see 
pp.  80-85.) 

"  Vegetables,"  says  Dr.  Beaumont,  M  are  generally  slower  of  digestion  than  meats  and 
farinaceous  substances,  tho'.gh  they  sometimes  pass  out  of  the  stomach  before  them,  in 
an  undigested  state.  Crudt  vegetables,  by  some  law  of  the  animal  economy  not  well  un- 
derstood, are  allowed,  even  when  the  stomach  is  in  a  healthy  state,  sometimes  to  pass  the 
pyloric  orifice,  while  other  food  is  retained  there  to  receive  the  solvent  action  of  the 
gastric  juice.  This  may  depend  upon  their  comparative  indigestibility  -r  for  it  is  well 
known  that  cathartic  medicines,  various  fruits,  seeds,  &c.t  which  operate  as  laxatives, 
aro  not  digested;  are  incapable  of  being  retained  in  the  stomach;  and  pass  rapidly 
through  the  intestinal  tube." 

In  digestion,  as  in  all  chemical  processes,  cohesion  is  a  force  which  is  opposed  to 
molecular  changes  ;  and  the  efficacy  of  various  means  of  augmenting  the  digestibility  of 
foods  is  ascribable  to  their  influence  in  lessening  this  force.     The  more  easy  digestibility 
of  whipped  or  lightly-boiled  eggs  than  in  the  same  bodies  when  fried  or  hard-boiled 
plicable  in  this  way,  (see  pp.129  and  130.) 

Tenderness  of  fibre  facilitates  the  digestive  process;  and  therefore,  all  those  circum- 
stances (see  pp.  114-116)  .which  affect  the  texture  of  flesh,  have  an  influence  o\ 
digestibility.  Violent  muscular  exertion  immediately  previous  to  the  death  of  an  an  it  mil 
renders  its  flesh  more  tender ;  and  thus  the  meat  of  hunted  animals  is  more  digestible 
than  it  would  otherwise  have  been.  It  is  not  improbable  that  the  still  more  cruel  prac- 
tices of  bull-baiting  and  whipping  pigs  to  death,  had  their  origin  in  some  object  of  this 
kind,  (see  p.  115.) 

Incipient  decomposition  promotes  the  tenderness  and  digestibility  of  food.  Most  per- 
sons are  aware  that  fresh-killed  meat  is  tougher  than  that  which  has  been  kept  for  some 
time,  (see  p.  115.) 

To  these  observations  some  apparent  objections  exist.  The  flesh  of  young  animals,  as 
I  have  already  stated,  (see  pp.  115-116,)  is  more  tender  and  soluble  than  that  of  the 
adult  animal ;  yet  the  latter  is  the  more  digestible.  Moreover,  it  might  be  supposed  that 
liquid  foods,  on  account  of  their  lesser  cohesion,  would  be  more  digestible  than  solid  foods: 
yet  such  does  not  appear  to  be  the  case.  "Solid  food,"  says  Dr.  Beaumont,  "is  sooner 
disposed  of  by  the  stomach  than  fluid,  and  its  nutritive  principles  are  sooner  carried  into 
the  circulation.  It  has  been  observed,  however,  that  the  exhaustion  from  abstinence  is 
quicker  removed  by  liquid  than  by  solid  aliment." 

Minuteness  of  division  of  solids  is  an  important  aid  to  digestion..  Thus  potatoes,  when 
so  far  cooked  as  to  be  easily  mashed,  are  more  easily  digestible  than  when  cooked  for  a 
sborter  period  of  time,  so  as  to  retain  their  form  ;  and  for  the  same  reason  mealy  potatoes 
are  more  digestible  than  waxy  ones,  (see  pp.  181  and  182.)  It  is  obvious,  also,  that  per- 
fect mastication,  by  effecting  the  minute  division  of  food,  must  be  an  important  aid  to  di- 
gestion ;  and  this  fact  cannot  be  too  strongly  urged  on  dyspeptics  :  for  if  the  food  be  im- 
perfectly chewed  and  hastily  swallowed,  greater  difficulty  is  experienced  in  the  subse- 
quent operation  of  digestion.  To  the  toothless,  therefore,  artificial  teeth  are  important 
adjuvants  to  the  gastric  operations. 


DIGESTIBILITY  OF  FOOD.  213 

Nor  is  the  process  of  insalivation,  as  affecting  the  digestibility  of  the  food,  to  be  over- 
looked.  When  food  has  been  thoroughly  intermixed  with  the  saliva  and  mucus  of  the 
mouth,  it  is  more  readily  and  speedily  permeated  and  acted  on  by  the  gastric  juice.  We 
may  draw  an  illustration  of  the  use  of  the  saliva  from  the  preparatory  proceeding  of  the 
operation  of  displacement  by  percolation.  In  order  to  prepare  a  tincture  of  any  medicinal 
substance  by  percolation,  the  solid  material,  first  reduced  to  a  moderately  fine  powder,  is 
moistened  with  a  sufficiency  of  the  solvent  to  form  a  thick  pulp.  This  preliminary  ope- 
ration— which  is  analogous  to  insalivation — facilitates  the  percolation  of  the  remainder  of 
the  liquid,  while  it  also  assists  its  solvent  action  on  the  solid  material.  If  dry  food  be 
hastily  swallowed  without  being  duly  admixed  with  the  saliva  and  mucus  of  the  mouth, 
we  instinctively  desire  drink  to  moisten  the  alimentary  mass  ;  so  that  in  this  dry  state  it 
does  not  appear  to  be  so  readily  converted  into  chyme;  and  it  is  probable  that  chylifica- 
tion,  as  well  as  chymification,  is  checked  by  imperfect  insalivation. 

The  cookery  of  foods  has  for  its  immediate  object  the  gratification  of  the  palate  ;  but  it 
can  scarcely  be  doubted  that  its  more  remote  end  is  the  promotion  of  digestion.  The 
reader  will  scarcely  fail  to  observe  that  nearly  every  substance  possessing  an  organized 
texture,  is,  by  civilized  man,  submitted  to  some  cooking  process  before  it  is  employed  as 
food.  One  point,  therefore,  attained  by  cooking,  is  the  more  or  less  complete  destruction 
of  organization.  Its  effect,  as  I  have  before  remarked,  (see  p.  114,)  is  not  always  to  pro- 
duce a  chemical  change  in  the  ultimate  constitution  of  food,  for  it  does  not  appear  that 
roasting  affects  the  ultimate  composition  of  meat.  Boiling,  however,  produces  some 
changes  in  the  proximate  composition  of  it,  (see  p.  196,)  and,  in  the  case  of  the  farinaceous 
substances,  serves  to  break  or  split  the  starch  grains,  (see  p.  62.)  Frying,  of  all  culinary 
operations,  is  the  most  obnoxious  to  the  digestive  function,  for  reasons  which  I  have 
before  explained,  (see  p.  83-84.) 

2.  Digestibility  of  foods  affected  by  circumstances  relating  to  the  individual  or  organism. — 
The  state  of  body  and  mind,  idiosyncrasy  or  constitutional  peculiarity,  habit,  the  interval 
that  has  elapsed  since  the  preceding  meal,  the  keenness  of  the  appetite,  the  amount  of 
exercise  taken  either  immediately  before  or  after  eating,  and  the  quantity  of  food  swal- 
lowed at  one  meal,  are  some  of  the  circumstances  relating  to  the  individual,  which  affect 
digestion.  Violent  anger,  for  example,  disturbs  this  process,  and,  according  to  Dr.  Beau- 
mont, gives  rise  to  the  appearance  of  bile  in  the  stomach.  In  febrile  diathesis,  with  dry- 
ness  of  mouth,  thirst,  accelerated  pulse,  &c.,  very  little  or  no  gastric  juice  is  secreted. 
Under  such  circumstances,  therefore,  the  propriety  of  withholding  food  is  very  obvious  : 
if  we  permit  its  use  no  nourishment  can  be  obtained  from  it,  while  its  presence  in  the 
stomach  is  a  source  of  irritation.  The  idiosyncrasy  of  some  constitutions  with  regard  to 
mutton  has  been  alluded  to,  (see  p.  116.) 

Considerable  discrepancy  of  opinion  has  existed  with  regard  to  the  influence  of  repose 
after  eating.  By  one  class  of  writers  on  dietetics  exercise  is  said  to  promote,  by  another 
to  retard,  digestion ;  and  'both  parties  appeal  to  experience  for  evidence  in  proof  of  their 
position.  "From  numerous  trials,  I  am  persuaded,"  says  Dr.  Beaumont,  "that  moder- 
ate exercise  conduces  considerably  to  healthy  and  rapid  digestion.  The  discovery  was 
the  result  of  accident,  and  contrary  to  preconceived  opinions."  Dr.  Combe,  on  the  other 
hand,  observes,  "that  active  exercise  immediately  after  a  full  meal,  such  as  is  generally 
taken  for  dinner,  is  prejudicial  to  its  digestion,  seems  to  me  to  be  proved  by  daily  and 
unequivocal  experience,  and  I  have  often  seen  patients  laboring  under  indigestion  bene- 
fited by  refraining  from  it." 

*  It  will,  I  think,  be  generally  admitted,  that  after  a  full  meal  the  functions  of  the  body 
are  more  or  less  impaired,  sluggishness  is  induced,  and  a  tendency  to  repose  experienced. 


214  COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 


These  effects  are  almost  universal  in  the  animal  kingdom.  We  experience  them  in  our 
own  persons,  and  we  witness  them  not  only  on  our  fellow-men,  but  on  the  :nferior  ani- 
mals. The  dog,  when  allowed  to  indulge  his  natural  instinct,  lies  down  and  sleeps  after 
he  has  satisfied  his  appetite ;  and  tru  Python  or  Indian  Boa,  we  are  told,  lies  in  a  torpid 
state  for  three  or  four  weeks  after  go  ging  itself  with  a  goat. 

These  and  many  other  analogous  facts  are  satisfactory  to  my  mind  that  repose  is  nat- 
ural to  animals  after  a  hearty  meal ;  and  that  the  practice  of  taking  the  siesta,  or  after- 
dinner  sleep,  is  not  injurious,  if  moc.erately  indulged  in.  It  should,  however,  b^  followed 
by  moderate  exercise.  But  there  are  exceptions  to  these  statements,  and  I  have  met 
with  some  few  persons  who  have  asserted  that  they  find  advantage  in  using  exercise  im- 
mediately after  dinner;  but  these  form  exceptions  to  the  general  rule.  After  the  earlier 
and  lighter  meals  of  the  day,  breakfast  or  luncheon,  quietude  or  repose  is  neither  desired 
nor  required. 

I  shall  close  these  observations  on  the  digestibility  of  foods  by  subjoining  Dr.  Beaumont's 
table,  showing  the  mean  time  of  digestion  of  various  articles  of  food,  as  ascertained  by 
experiments  on  the  Canadian,  whose  case  I  have  already  had  occasion  to  refer  in, 
p.  82.)  I  may  premise,  however,  that  his  statements  are  by  no  means  to  be  implicitly 
adopted.  "The  rapidity  of  digestion,  as  the  author  himself  shows,  varies  greatly  accord- 
ing to  the  quantity  eaten,  the  amount  and  nature  of  the  previous  exercise,  the  interval 
of  the  preceding  meal,  the  state  of  health  and  of  the  weather,  and  also  the  state  of  the 
mind.  But  in  scarcely  any  of  the  experiments  have  these  conditions  been  carefully 
noted* 

*  Experiments  and  Observations  on  the  Gastric  Juice  and  tht  Physiology  of  Digestion,  by  W.  Beau- 
mont, M.  D.,  Edinb.,  1838.  Foot  note,  p.  37,  by  Dr.  Combe. 


215 

TABLE 

She  wing  the  Mean  Time  of  Digestion  of  the  different  Articles  of  Diet,  naturally,  in  the 

Stcmach,  and  artificially  in  Phials,  on  a  Bath. 

The  proportion  of  eastri:  .  aice  to  aliment,  in  artificial  digestion,  was  generally  calculated  at  one  ounce  of 
the  former  to  one  drachu  of  the  latter,  the  bath  being  kept  as  near  as  practicable  at  the  natural  tem- 
perature, 100°  Fahrenheit,  with  frequent  agitation. 

MEAN  TIME  OF  CHYMIFICATION. 

ARTICLES  OF  DIET. 

IN  STOMACH. 

IN  PHIALS. 

i 

i 
i 

Preparation. 

H.  M. 

Preparation. 

H.  M. 

i 

Rice    - 

Boiled 

1 

Pigs'  feet,  soused 

Boiled 

1 

— 

Tripe,  soused       - 

Boiled 

i 

Eggs,  whipped     - 

Raw 

30 

Whipped 

4 

Trout,  salmon,  fresh     - 

Boiled 

30 

Boiled 

3  30 

Trout,  salmon,  fresh     - 

Fried 

30 

Soup,  barley         - 

Boiled 

30 

Apples,  sweet,  mellow 

Raw 

30 

Masticated 

6  45 

Venison  steak       - 

Broiled 

35 

Brains,  animal      - 

Boiled 

45 

Boiled 

4  30 

Sago  ----- 

Boiled 

45 

Boiled 

3  15 

Tapioca       - 

Boiled 

2 

Boiled 

3  20 

Barley         - 

Boiled 

2 

Milk    

Boiled 

2 

Boiled 

4  15 

Liver,  beef's,  fresh 

Broiled 

2 

Cut  fine 

6  30 

Eggs,  fresh 

Raw 

2 

Raw 

4  15 

Codfish,  cured  dry 
Apples,  sour,  mellow    - 

Boiled 
Raw 

2 
2 

Boiled 
Masticated 

5 

8  30 

Cabbage,  with  vinegar 

Raw 

2 

Shaved 

10  15 

Milk    ----- 

Raw 

2  15 

Raw 

4  45 

Eggs,  fresh 

Roasted 

2  15 

Turkey,  wild        - 

Roasted 

2   18 

Turkey,  domestic 

Boiled 

2  25 

Gelatine       - 

Boiled 

2  30 

Boiled 

4  45 

Turkey,  domestic 

Roasted 

2  30 

Goose,  wild 

Roasted 

2  30 

Pig,  sucking         - 

Roasted 

2  30 

Lamb,  fresh          - 

Broiled 

2  30 

Hash,  meat  and  vegetables    - 

Warmed 

2  30 

Beans,  pod 

Boiled 

2  30 

Cake,  sponge        - 

Baked 

2  30 

Broken 

6  16 

Parsnips       -         -         -         - 

Boiled 

2  30 

Mashed 

6  45 

Potatoes,  Irish      - 

Roasted 

2  30 

Potatoes,  Irish      - 

Baked 

2  30 

Cabbage,  head      - 

Raw 

2  30 

Masticated 

12  30 

Spinal  marrow,  animal 

Boiled 

3  40 

Boiled 

5  25 

Chicken,  full  grown 

Fricasseed 

2  45 

Custard        - 

Baked 

2  45 

Eaked 

6  30 

Beef,  with  salt  only 

Boiled 

2  45 

9  30 

Apples,  sour,  hard 

Raw 

2  50 

Entire  pieces 

18 

Oysters,  fresh       - 

Raw 

2  55 

Raw,  entire 

7  30 

Eggs,  fresh 

Soft  boiled 

3 

Soft  boiled 

6  30 

Bass,  striped,  fresh 

Broiled 

3 

Beef,  fresh,  lean,  rare  - 

Roasted 

3 

Roasted 

216                                               COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 

i 

MEAN  TIME  OF  CHYMIFICATION. 

ARTICLES  OF  DIET. 

IN  STOMACH. 

IN  PHIALS. 

Preparation. 

H.  M. 

Preparation. 

//.  M. 

Beefsteak    .... 

Broiled 

3 

Masticated 

8  15 

Pork,  recently  salted     - 

Raw 

3 

Raw 

8  30 

Pork,  recently  salted    - 

Stewed 

3 

Mutton,  fresh        ... 

Broiled 

3 

Masticated 

6  45 

Mutton,  fresh        - 

Boiled 

3 

Soup,  bean  -         ... 

Boiled 

3 

Chicken  soup        - 

Boiled 

3 

Aponeurosis 

Boiled 

3 

Boiled 

6  30 

Dumpling,  apple  -         -         - 

Boiled 

3 

Cake,  corn 

Baked 

3 

Oysters,  fresh       ... 

Roasted       !  3  15 

Pork,  recently  salted    - 

Broiled 

3  15 

Porksteak    -         -         -         - 

Broiled 

3  15 

Mutton,  fresh        ... 

Roasted 

3  15 

Bread,  corn          ... 

Baked 

3  15 

I 

Carrot,  orange      - 

Boiled 

3  15 

Mashed 

6  15 

Sausage,  fresh      - 

Broiled 

3  20 

Flounder,  fresh    - 

Fried 

3  30 

Catfish,  fresh 

Fried 

3  30 

Oysters,  fresh       ... 

Stewed 

3  30 

Stewed 

8  25 

Beef,  fresh,  lean,  dry    - 

Roasted 

3  30 

Roasted 

7  45 

Beef,  with  mustard,  &c. 

Boiled 

3  30 

Butter 

Melted 

3  30 

Cheese,  old,  strong 

Raw- 

3  30 

Masticated 

7  15 

Soup,  mutton 

Boiled 

3  30 

Oyster  soup          ... 

Boiled 

3  30 

Bread,  wheat,  fresh 

Baked 

3  30 

Masticated 

4  30 

Turnips,  flat 

Boiled 

3  30 

Potatoes,  Irish      ... 

Boiled 

3  30 

Mashed 

8  30 

Eggs,  fresh           ... 

Hard  Boiled 

3  30 

Hard  boiled 

8 

Eggs,  fresh 

Fried 

3  30 

Green  corn  and  beans  - 

Boiled 

3  45 

Beets           .... 

Boiled 

3  45 

Salmons,  salted    ... 

Boiled 

4 

Boiled 

7  45 

Beef   

Fried 

4 

12  30 

Veal,  fresh  .... 

Broiled 

4 

Fowls,  domestic   ... 

Boiled 

4 

Masticated 

0  30 

Fowls,  domestic   -         -         - 

Roasted 

4 

Ducks,  domestic  ... 

Roasted 

4 

Soup,  beef,  vegetables,  and  ) 
11                                    f 

Boiled 

4 

bread                                     J 

Heart,  animal       ... 

Fried 

4 

Entire  piece 

13  30 

Beef,  old,  hard,  salted  - 

Boiled 

4  15 

Pork,  recently  salted     - 

Fried 

4  15 

Soup,  marrow  bones 

Boiled 

4  15 

' 

Cartilage      .... 

Boiled 

4  15 

Masticated 

10 

Pork,  recently  salted     - 

Boiled 

4  30 

Masticated 

6  30 

Veal,  fresh  -" 

Fried 

4  30 

Ducks,  wild          ... 

Roasted 

4  30 

Suet,  mutton         - 

Boiled 

4  30 

Divided 

10 

Pork,  fa*,  and  lean 

Roasted 

5   15 

Tendon        - 

Boiled 

5  30 

Masticated 

12  45 

Suet,  beef,  fresh  - 

Boiled 

5  30 

Entire  piece 

19 

NUTRITIVE  QUALITIES  OF  FOOD. 


217 


MEAN  TIME  OF  CHYMIFICATION. 

ARTICLES  OF  DIET, 

IN  STOMACH. 

IN  PHIALS. 

Preparation, 

H.  M. 

Preparation, 

H   M. 

Beefsteak     - 

Broiled 

Cut  fine 

8 

Beefsteak     - 

Raw 

Cut  fine 

8  15 

Beef    

Boiled 

Entire  piece 

9 

Mutton,  fresh        ... 

Broiled 

Unmasticated 

8  30 

Cream          -         - 

Raw 

25  30 

Cheese,  old,  strong 

Entire  piece 

18 

Cheese,  new,  mild 

Divided 

8  30 

Oil,  olive      .         ... 

Raw 

60 

Tendon         .... 

Entire  piece 

24 

Cartilage      - 

Divided 

12 

Bone,  beef's,  solid 

Entire  piece 

80 

Bone,  hog's,  solid 

Entire  piece 

80 

Parsnips       - 

Boiled 

Entire  piece 

13  15 

Parsnips       - 

Raw 

Entire  piece 

18 

Carrot,  orange      - 

Entire  piece 

12  30 

Carrot,  orange      - 

Raw 

Raw  piece 

17  15 

Potatoes,  Irish      - 

Entire  piece 

14 

Cabbage       - 

Boiled 

4  30 

Boiled 

20 

Peach,  mellow      - 

Cut  small 

10 

iPeach,  mellow      - 

Mashed 

6 

CHAP.  II.— Of  the  Nutritive  Qualities  of  Foods. 

In  order  to  arrive  at  any  accurate  conclusions  with  respect  to  the  relative  nutritive 
powers  of  different  kinds  of  foods,  it  is  necessary,  in  the  first  place,  to  ascertain  the 
amount  of  water  these  substances  respectively  contain  ;  for  it  will  be  found  that  in  this 
respect  the  difference  between  different  kinds  of  food  is  enormous.  Thus  Turnips  and 
Cabbages  contain  somewhat  more  than  92  per  cent,  of  water,  or  not  quite  8  per  cent,  of 
anhydrous  or  dry  solid  matter ;  while  the  Fixed  Oils  or  Fats  are  anhydrous,  or  nearly  so. 

But  of  the  anhydrous  or  dry  matter  of  foods  the  whole  is  not  necessarily  nutritive.  I 
have  already  stated  (p.  68)  that  the  ligneous  or  woody  tissue  of  vegetable  foods  is  indi- 
gestible, and  is  evacuated  with  the  faeces.  Moreover,  the  green  resinous  matter  of  plants, 
called  chlorophylle,  does  not  possess  alimentary  properties,  as  I  have  before  remarked,  (see 
p.  183.)  So  that  from  the  amount  of  anhydrous,  or  dry  solid  matter  of  ordinary  vegetable 
•foods,  we  must  deduct  woody  tissue  and  the  coloring  matter. 

Furthermore,  it  is  doubtful  whether  some  of  the  substances  which  enter  into  the  com- 
position of  animal  foods  are  nutritive,  at  least  under  ordinary  circumstances  ;  such  as 
pack-wax,  (see  p.  113,)  and  some  of  the  membranous  tissues  which  approximate  to  horny 
matter  in  composition. 

Of  the  positively  digestible  and  nutritive  matter  of  foods  we  must  distinguish  those 
principles  which  are  nitrogenized  from  such  as  are  not.  For  whether  the  views  of  Liebig, 
as  to  the  exclusively  nutritive  quality  of  nitrogenized  foods,  be  or  be  not  correct,  it  cannot 
be  doubted  that  the  mode  of  nutrition  of  substances  which  are  devoid  of  nitrogen  must 


218 


COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 


be  different  from  that  of  bodies  which  contain  it,  and  whose  ultimate  composition  is  iden- 
tical with  tha*  of  the  living  tissues. 

The  value  of  non-nitrogenized  substances  as  aliments  is  probably  in  proportion  to  the 
quantity  of  carbon  which  they  contain.  In  this  point  of  view  the  oils  and  fats  exceed  all 
other  foods  of  this  class. 

Of  the  nitrogenized  aliments,  those  which  contain  the  largest  amount  of  proteinaceous 
principles  (which  are  identical  in  ultimate  composition  -with  our  own  flesh  and  blood)  ex- 
ceed all  other  foods  in  nutritive  poM  T.  I  have  already  (p.  27)  mentioned  Boussingault's 
opinion,  that  the  nutritive  value  of  nitrogenized  foods  is  in  proportion  to  the  quantity  of 
nitrogen  entering  into  their  composition  ;  and  I  have  pointed  out  some  objections  to  this 
notion,  (see  pp.  28  and  162.)  I  may  further  add,  that  if  it  were. true,  the  gelatinous  ali- 
mentary principles  must  exceed  the  proteinaceous  ones  in  nutritive  power ;  a  conclusion 
not  borne  out  by  experience. 

In  the  following  table,  which  I  have  drawn  up  from  the  best  accessible  sources,  will  be 
found  the  per  centage  quantities  of  water,  anhydrous  or  dry  matter,  carbon,  and  nitrogen, 
contained  in  foods  as  we  usually  meet  with  them  in  commerce.  The  numbers  contained 
in  the  table  are  not  always  the  actual  ones  given  by  the  authorities  quoted ;  but  have 
in  most  cases  been  obtained  by  calculation  from  data  furnished  by  the  authors  respectively 
quoted. 

TABLE 

Representing  the  Average  Quantities  of  Dry  Matter,  Moisture,  Carbon,  and  Nitrogen,  In  various 
Alimentary  Substances  of  commerce. 


100  PARTS. 

Solid  or 
Dry 
Mrttar, 

Water 

or  Moix- 
tnrr. 

C/Qroon. 

Nitrogen. 

Authority. 

Gum  Arabic 

87-6 

12-4 

36-3 

0 

Prout. 

Ditto 

82-4 

17-6 

34-78 

0-14 

Guerin.* 

Sugar  Candy 

89-47 

10-53 

42-09 
42-85 

0 
0 

Peligot. 
Prout. 

English  refined  sugar  . 

S  41-5  to 
I  42-5 

I" 

Prout. 

Maple  sugar 

-1-2-1 

0 

Prout 

Breiroot  sugar 

42-1 

0 

Prout. 

East  India  moist  su^ar 

40-88 

0 

Prout. 

Sugar  of  Narbonne  honey    . 

3636 

0 

I'rout. 

Sii«r;,r  from  starch  [Potato  sugar7] 

36-2 

0 

Prout. 

Sugar  of  milk 

40-0 

0 

Prout. 

Ditto         (crystallized)  . 
Manna  sugar  (Munnitr) 

87-5 

12-5 

40-46 
33-7 

0 
0 

Liebig. 
Prout. 

Ditto        .... 

39-85 

0 

Liebig. 

Potato  starch  (commercially  dried) 
Fine  Wheat  starch 

82 
85-2 

18 
14-8 

3644 
37-5 

0 
0 

Dumas. 
Prout. 

Arrow  root 

81-8 

18-2 

36-4 

0 

Prout. 

Almond  oil 

100 

0 

77-403 

0.288 

Saussure. 

Olive  oil 

100 

0 

77-50 

S;ui^sure. 

LJuttert 

100 

0 

65-6 

0 

Berard. 

Hog's  lard 

100 

0 

79-098 

0 

(  'lievreul. 

Mutton  met 

100* 

0 

78-996 

0 

(  hevreul. 

Wheat 

11-5 

39-415 

l-%6 

Bou.-Mimault. 

Rye      . 

83-4 

16-6 

3S-530 

1417 

h'ous.-iugault. 

(Oats      . 

7M 

20-8 

40-154 

1-742 

HmisHiiirault. 

Oatmeal 

93-4 

6-6 

Christbon. 

Bread  (Rye)              average 

67-79 

32-21 

30-674 

Bceckinann. 

Ditto                       ditto   . 

30.15 

Liebig. 

Leguminous  seeds      ditto   . 

37-00 

Liebig. 

*  Guerin's  analysis  is  that  of  what  he  calls  Arabin. 

t  Butter  usually  contains  about  one  sixth  of  its  weight  of  buttermilk. 


NUTRITIVE  QUALITIES  OF  FOOD. 


219 


Solid  or 

Water 

100  PARTS. 

Dry 

or  Mois- 

Carbon. 

Nitrogen. 

Authority. 

Matter. 

ture. 

Peas     .... 

84-0 

16-0 

35-743 

"Mavfair.  ' 

Ditto  (Poisjaunes)  . 
Ditto       ... 

91-4 

85  '94 

8-6 
14-06 

42-4 

3-838 

Boussingault. 
Sinhof. 

Beans  

85-89 

14-11 

38-24 

Playfair. 

Ditto  (Broad  or  Windsor  Bean} 

84-37 

1563 

EinHof. 

Lentils          

84-1 

15-9 

37-33 

Playfair. 

Potatoes        ... 
Ditto  (fresh)     . 
Ditto  (fresh)     . 

24-1 
20-6 

75-9 
79-4 

10-604 
12-2 

0-3615 
0-37 

Boussingault. 
Boussingault. 
Liebig. 

Ditto  (kept  10  months) 
Cabbage       ... 
Turnips         ... 
Carrots          ... 
Jerusalem  Artichoke    . 
Apricot  (ripe)        .        .                 . 

23-2 
7-7 
7-5 
12-4 
20-8 
25-13 

76-8 
92-3 
92-5 

87-6 
79-2 

74-87 

3-2175 
9-0 

0-28 
0-28 
0-1275 
0-30 
0-3328 

Boussingault. 
Boussingault. 
Boussingault. 
Boussingault. 
Boussingault. 
Berard. 

Greengage  (ripe) 

28-90 

71-10 

Berard. 

Peach  (ripe) 

19-76 

80-24 

Berard. 

Cherries  (ripe) 

25-15 

74-85 

Berard. 

Pear  (ripe  Jargonelle)  . 

16-12 

83-88 

Berard. 

Gooseberries  (ripe) 

18-90 

81-10 

Berard. 

[Smyrna  Figs 
Cucumber  (peeled) 
felood    .         .                         . 

84-00 

2-86 
20-00 

16-00 
97-14 
80-00 

10-392 

.    3-014 

Bley. 
John. 
Liebig. 

Milk,  Cow's 

12-93 

87-02 

••    1 

"     Ass's  .                         . 

8-35 

91-65 

•• 

O.  Henri 

"     Woman's    .... 

12-02 

87-98 

..     I 

and 

"     Goat's          .... 

13-20 

86-80 

( 

..     f 

Uhevallier. 

n     Ewe's          .... 

14-38 

85-62 

t 

••    J 

Butcher's  meat,  devoid  of  fat 

26 

74 

13-6 

Liebig. 

"      with  l-7th  fat  and 

cellular  tissue 

21-75 

Liebig. 

"      including  bones,  as 

purchased 
Fresh  beef  flesh   .... 

29 
25 

71 

75 

12-957 

3-752 

Liebig. 
BoBckmann. 

Muscular  flesh  of  Ox   . 

22-5 

77-5 

Schlossberger. 

"            "        Calf 

t    20-3  to 
)    21-8 

79-7  to 

78-2    . 

I 

Schlossberger. 

"            "        Pigeon     . 

24-0 

76-0 

Schlossberger. 

Chicken  . 

22-7 

77-3 

Schlossberger. 

"         Carp  and  Trout 

(average) 

197 

80-3 

Schlossberger. 

"        Cod,  Haddock,  & 

Sole  (average) 

20-0 

80-0 

Brande. 

Egg,  white  of       .... 

20-0 

80-0 

Bostock. 

"    yolk  of         .... 

4623 

53-77 

Prout. 

"    dried  and  purified  albumen  of 

5500 

.  15-681 

Scherer. 

Calf's  swee  (bread 

30-0 

70-0 

Morin. 

Oysters         

12-6 

87-4 

Pasquier. 

I>inglass        ..... 

92-5 

7-5 

John. 

Beef  Tea      

1-5625 

98-4375 

Christison. 

Soup  of  the  House  of  Arrest  at 

Giessen          .... 

C-75 

Liebig. 

In  several  parts  of  this  work  (see  pp.  84,  87,  88,  91,  93, 102, 112,  and  116)  1  have  refer- 
red  to  the  statements  contained  in  the  Report  made  to  the  Academy  of  Sciences  in  Paris, 
by  the  Gelatine  Commission  ;  and  I,  therefore,  think  it  advisable  to  subjoin  the  conclusions 
wnich  Magendie.  in  the  name  of  the  Commission,  lias  drawn  from  the  facts  detailed: — 

1  We  cannot,  by  any  known  proceeding,  extract  from  bones  an  aliment  which,  either  alone  or  mixed 
with  other  substances,  can  be  substituted  for  meat. 

2.  Gelath  e,  albumen,  and  fibrine,  taken  separately,  nourish  animals  fora  very  limited  period  only,  and 
in  ai:  incomplete  manner.  In  general  they  soon  excite  such  an  insurmountable  disgust,  that  ani- 
mals die  rather  than  partake  of  them. 

3  The  same  immediate  principles  artificially  reunited,  and  rendered  agreeably  sapid  by  seasoning,  are 
eaten  more  readily,  and  for  a  longer  period,  than  the  same  substances  singly,  but  their  ultimate 


220  COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 


influence  on  nutrition  is  not  better;  for  animals  who  take  them,  even  in  considerable  quantities, 
die  ultimately  with  all  the  symptoms  of  complete  inanition. 

•1.  Muscular  flesh,  in  which  gelatine,  albumen,  and  fibrine  are  united  according  to  the  laws  of  organic 
nature,  and  where  they  are  associated  with  other  matters,  as  fat,  salts,  &c.,  suffices,  even  in  very 
small  quantity,  for  complete  a  id  prolonged  nutrition. 

5  Raw  bones  have  the  same  effect,  but  the  quantity  consumed  in  twenty-four  hours  ought  not  to  be 
much  greater  than  in  the  case  of  meat. 

6.  Every  kind  of  preparation,  such  as  decoction  with  water,  the  action  of  hydrochloric  acid,  and  espe- 
cially the  transformation  into  gelatine,  diminishes,  and,  in  some  cases,  seems  even  to  destroy  the 
nutritive  quality  of  bones. 

7  The  Commission,  however,  does  not  wish  at  present  to  offer  an  opinion  on  the  employment  of  gela- 
tine, associated  with  other  aliment*,  in  the  nourishment  of  man.  It  believes  that  direct  experi- 
ment can  alone  illustrate  this  subject  in  a  definite  manner.  It  has  been  actively  occupit-d  with 
this  subject,  and  the  results  will  be  published  in  the  second  and  last  part  of  this  Report. 

8.  Gluten,  from  wlieat  or  maize,  alone  satisfies  complete  and  prolonged  nutrition. 

9.  Fat,  taken  alone,  sustains  life  during  some  time,  but  the  nutrition  is  imperfect  and  disordered.     It 

accumulates  in  all  the  tissues,  sometimes  in  the  state  of  elaine  (oleine)  and  of  stearine,  sometimes 
in  the  state  of  almost  pure  stearine. 


CHAP.  III.— Of  the  Times  of  Eating. 

An  able  writer  (Dr.  Combe)  on  Digestion  and  Dietetics,  has  very  justly  observed,  that 
"  the  grand  rule  in  fixing  the  number  and  periods  of  our  meals,  is,  to  proportion  them  to 
the  real  wants  of  the  system  as  modified  by  age,  sea:,  health,  and  manner  of  life,  and  as  indica- 
ted by  the  true  returns  of  appetite." 

The  time  required  for  the  digestion  of  the  food,  by  the  healthy  stomach,  varies  from  one 
to  three  or  four  hours ;  but  hunger,  or  the  desire  to  take  more  food,  is  not  usually  expe- 
rienced until  some  time  after  this  viscus  has  disposed  of  its  contents.  If  fresh  food  be 
introduced  into  the  stomach  before  that  of  the  previous  meal  has  been  digested,  the  pro- 
cess of  digestion  is  disturbed.  The  solution  which  Dr.  Beaumont  offers  of  this  generally 
admitted  fact  is,  that  more  food  is  received  into  the  stomach,  in  the  aggregate,  than  the  guatric 
juice  can  dissolve.  But  this  explanation  is  by  no  means  a  satisfactory  one.  It  leads  to  the 
conclusion,  that  eating  a  little  and  often  is  not  injurious,  provided  the  total  amount  of  food 
taken  does  not  exceed  that  capable  of  being  dissolved  by  the  gastric  juice.  General  expe- 
rience, however,  is  opposed  to  this  practice ;  and  it  can  scarcely  be  doubted  that,  in  the 
healthy  state  of  the  system,  the  custom  of  eating  moderately  at  more  prolonged  intervals 
is  most  natural  to  man. 

A  variety  of  circumstances  affect  the  length  of  the  interval  between  each  meal.  On 
account  of  the  greater  activity  of  the  organs  of  respiration,  children  require  to  be  more 
frequently  fed  than  adults,-  and  they  bear  hunger  less  easily.  For  the  same  reason,  also, 
persons  who  take  much  exercise,  or  labor  hard,  require  more  frequent  and  copious  meals 
than  the  indolent  and  sedertary.  In  the  former  the  number  of  respirations  is  greater  than 
in  the  latter;  and,  therefo.e,  a  more  frequent  supply  of  food  is  required  to  supply  the 
necessary  quantity  of  carbon  and  hydrogen  to  be  consumed  in  the  lungs.  *  A  bird  de- 
prived of  food,"  says  Liebig,  "dies  on  the  third  day,  while  a  serpent,  with  its  sluggish  re- 
spiration, can  live  without  food  three  months  or  longer." 

From  experiments*  made  a  few  years  ago  at  the  Zoological  Gardens,  it  appears  that 

*  See  the  Proceedings  of  the  Zoological  Society,  No.  xviii.  p.  49. 


TIME  OF  EATING.  221 


carnivorous  mammalia  require  one  meal  in  twenty-four  hours  only,  and  that  if  fed  more 
frequently  their  health  suffers.  It  was  found  that  when  Leopards  and  Hyeenas  were  fed 
with  two  meals  daily  they  did  not  continue  in  equally  good  condition  with  those  which 
had  the  same  quantity  of  flesh  daily  in  one  meal  only.  It  further  appears,  that  in  one 
instance  (that  of  the  Leopard)  the  temper  changed  for  the  worse ;  and  in  another  in- 
stance the  habits  were  altered  as  regarded  exercise,  a  diminution  of  which,  in  confined 
animals,  must  be  injurious  to  health. 

It  cannot  be  doubted  that  the  practice  of  having  fixed  periods  for  eating  is  more  condu- 
cive to  health  than  eating  at  irregular  intervals.  But  it  will  be  obvious,  from  the  forego- 
ing observations,  that  the  periods  should  vary  for  different  classes  of  individuals.  "So 
strong  is  the  tendency  to  periodicity  in  the  system,"  says  Dr.  Cornbe,  "that  the  appetite 
returns  at  the  accustomed  hour,  even  after  the  mode  of  life,  and  consequently  the  wants 
of  the  system,  have  undergone  a  change ;  and  if  not  gratified,  it  again  subsides.  Ulti- 
mately, however,  its  calls  become  too  urgent  to  admit  of  being  a  second  time  disregarded." 

The  number  of  meals  per  day,  and  the  intervals  between  them,  must  vary  according 
to  several  circumstances ;  but  for  adults  it  may  be  admitted,  as  a  general  rule,  that  three 
rneals  at  least  are  essential  to  health,  though  five  are  in  frequent  use  ;  viz.  breakfast, 
luncheon,  dinner,  tea,  and  supper.  In  public  pauper  establishments  three  only  are  per- 
mitted ;  viz.  breakfast,  dinner,  and  supper. 

1.  Breakfast. — The  system  is  more  susceptible  of  the  influence  of  morbific  causes  before 
breakfast  than  at  any  other  period  of  the  day.  "It  is  well  known,"  observes  Dr..  Comber 
"that  the  system  is  more  susceptible  of  infection,  and  of  the  influence  of  cold,  miasma, 
and  other  morbid  causes,  in  the  morning  before  eating  than  at  any  other  time  ;  and  hence 
it  has  become  a  point  of  duty  with  all  naval  and  military  commanders,,  especially  in  bad 
climates,  always  to  give  their  men  breakfast  before  exposing  them  to  morning  dews  and 
other  noxious  influences.  Sir  George  Ballingall  even  mentions  a  regiment  quartered  at 
Newcastle,  in  which  typhus  fever  was  very  prevalent,  and  in  which,  of  all  the  means 
used  to  check  its  progress,  nothing  proved  so  successful  as  an  early  breakfast  of  warm 
coffee.  In  aguish  countries,  also,  experience  has  shown  that  the  proportion  of  sick  among 
those  who  are  exposed  to  the  open  air  before  getting  any  thing  to  eat,  is  infinitely  greater 
than  among  those  who  have  been  fortified  by  a  comfortable  breakfast." 

In  some  constitutions,  especially  those  denominated  delicate,- much  exercise,  either  of 
body  or  mind,  before  breakfast,  operates  injuriously  ;,  producing  exhaustion,  languor,  and 
unfitness  for  the  ordinary  occupations  of  the  day. 

These  facts -show  the  importance  of  breakfasting  soon  after  rising  and  dressing;  at 
least  in  many  cases.  I  am  fully  aware  that  there  are  numerous  exceptions  to  this.  Some 
persons  not  only  suffer  no  injury  from,  but  actually  appear  to  be  benefited  by,  active  exer- 
cise taken  before  breakfast ;  its  effect  being  with  them  to  create  or  augment  the  appetite. 
But  in  others  the  effects  are  those  which  I  have  already  stated.  I  am  satisfied,  from  re- 
peated observation,  that  in  children  disposed  to  spasmodic  and  other  brain  diseases,  the 
practice  of  making  them  attend  school  for  two  hours  before  breakfast  is  injurious;  and. I 
fully  agree,  therefore,  with  Dr.  Combe,  that  in  "boarding-schools  for  the  young  and  grow- 
ing, who  require  plenty  of  sustenance,  and  are  often  obliged  to  rise  early,  an  early  break- 
fast is  almost  an  indispensable  condition  of  health."  Epileptics,  especially  those  disposed 
to  morning  attacks,  should  invariably  breakfast  soon  after  rising.  I  think  I  have  seen  the 
fits  brought  on  by  neglecting  this  precaution.  For  travellers  a  light  breakfast  before  start- 
ing is  a  great  protection  "  against  colds  and  subsequent  fatigue  or  exhaustion."  Medical 
men  and  others  should  not,  if  possible,  expose  themselves  to  the  influence  of  infectious  or 
contagious  disorders,  as  fevers,  &c.,  before  breakfast,  as  the  danger  of  infection  then  is 


222  COMPOUND  ALIMENTS 


greatly  enhanced.     For  the  same  reason  the  practice  of  -making  post-mortem  examina- 
tions and  dissections  before  breakfast  is  to  be  condemned. 

2.  Luncheon. — This  meal  is  admissible  only  when  either  the  interval  between  the  break- 
fast and  dinner  is  very  prolonged,  or  when  the  quantity  of  food  taken  at  breakfast  is  very 
small.     The  lower  classes,  as  well  as  the  children  of  the  higher  classes,  dine  early,  and 
thus  with  them  luncheon  is  unnecessary,  and  accordingly  is  not  usually  taken.     Not  so, 
however,  with  adults  of  the  middling  and  higher  classes.     With  them,  either  from  busi- 
ness or  other  causes,  the  practice  of  dining  late  has  become  general ;  and  with  such  lun- 
cheon becomes  a  necessary  meal.     It  should  be  taken  about  five  hours  after  breakfast,  and 
though  called  by  another  name,  it  may  be  considered  as  a  light  dinner,  taken  to  allay  the 
cravings  of  nature,  but  not  entirely  to  destroy  the  appetite. 

3.  Dinner. — "Supposing  nine  o'clock  to  be  the  hour  of  breakfast,"  observes  Dr.  Combe, 
"  the  natural  dinner-hour  would  be  two  o'clock ;  and  such,  accordingly,  is  that  sanction- 
ed by  the  most  extended  experience,  and  which  ought  to  be  adhered  to  by  all  whose  oc- 
cupations will  admit  of  its  observance,  and  who  wish  to  enjoy  the  highest  health  of  which 
they  are  susceptible."     This  rule  is  a  very  good  general  one  for  adults,  to  which,  how- 
ever, exceptions  oftentimes  occur.     Digestion  is  a  process  which  is  not  effected  in  the  same 
period  of  time  in  different  individuals, — in  some  it  is  slow,  in  others  rapid.     In  the  former 
a  longer  interval  between  breakfast  and  dinner  is  necessary  than  in  the  latter.    A  variety 
of  other  circumstances,  such  as  the  quantity  of  food  taken  at  breakfast,  the  occupation  of 
the  individual,  &c.  &C.,  also  affect  the  length  of  the  interval. 

Business  and  the  customs  of  society  have  led  to  the  practice  of  dining  latr,  which,  as  I 
have  already  stated,  involves  the  propriety  of  taking  the  intermediate  meal  caljbd  luncheon. 

4.  Tea. — The  moderate  use  of  tea  or  coffee,  two  or  three  hours  after  dinner,  forms  a 
very  agreeable  and  refreshing  meal. 

5.  Supper. — General  experience  is  unfavorable  to  the  use  of  much  food  at  supper.    To 
those  who  dine  late,  supper  is  an  unnecessary  meal ;  whereas  to  those  who  dine  early,  and 
who  take  much  active  exercise,  or  are  employed  in  laborious  work  after  dinner,  it  is  by 
no  means  an  unnecessary  or  unwholesome  meal.     An  empty  stomach,  under  such  cir- 
cumstances, will  sometimes  prove  a  most  disagreeable  preventive  of  sleep.* 


CHAP.  IV. — On  Dietaries. 

IT  will,  I  think,  be  generally  admitted,  that  an  accurate  acquaintance  with  the  quantity 
and  quality  of  food  necessary  to  the  maintenance  of  human  health  and  life,  under  dif- 
ferent circumstances,  is  a  matter  of  great  interest  to  every  one  ;  but  it  is  more  especially 
so  to  statesmen,  magistrates,  naval  and  military  officers,  physicians  and  surgeons,»govern- 
ors  of  hospitals  and  other  public  institutions,  and  the  guardians  of  the  poor.  To  them 
are  intrusted  the  care  and  supervision  of  the  inhabitants  of  prisons,  ships,  garrisons, 
armies,  asylums,  hospitals,  and  poor-houses;  and  on  their  knowledge  or  igr;orance  de- 
pends the  health  or  disease — the  life  or  the  death — of  a  considerable  portion  of  the  com- 
munity. 

The  Reports  of  the  Inspectors  of  Prisons  have  furnished  abundant  evidence  of  the 
errors  committed  by  magistrates  in  the  dieting  of  criminals.  Debility,  diarrhoea,  scurvy, 

*  Appendix,  18. 


DIETARIES.  2:23 


and  other  evils  known  to  be  consequences  of  defective  nutriment,  have  prevailed  in  many 
of  the  prisons  of  this  country  to  a  serious  and  alarming  extent.  I  am  fully  aware  of  the 
difficulty,  in  many  cases,  of  determining  the  cause  or  causes  of  these  evils,  and  I  arn 
willing  to  admit  that,  possibly,  in  some  of  the  instances  in  which  defective  nutriment  has 
alone  been  charged  with  the  production  of  diseases  of  an  epidemic  character,  that  other 
morbific  causes,  either  alone  or  concurrently  with  defective  nutriment,  may  have  con- 
tributed to  the  result.  But  in  some  cases  the  cause  of  the  evil  is  too  clear  and  unequivo- 
cal to  admit  of  any  doubt.  Take  the  case  of  the  Lewes  House  of  Correction.  The  Inspec- 
tors of  Prisons*  inform  us,  that  "  Scurvy  at  one  time  prevailed  in  the  prison  :  by  an 
increase  of  the  diet  it  disappeared.  The  diet  was  again  diminished,  and  the  scurvy  again 
appeared.  The  diet  was  then  permanently  increased  ;  the  scurvy  again  disappeared,  and 
has  not  since  occurred." 

The  actual  quantity  of  food  required  for  the  support  of  human  health  and  life  is  sub- 
ject to  considerable  modification  by  a  variety  of  circumstances;  and,  therefore,  it  is 
quite  impossible  to  lay  down  a  fixed  rule,  or  to  adopt  any  standard:  for  the  quantity  of 
food  which  may  be  suited  to  the  wants  of  one  individual  may  be  insufffcient  for  another, 
or  too  much  for  a  third.  Age,  sex,  the  amount  and  kind  of  exercise  and  labor,  the  con- 
stitution, the  state  of  health,  and  the  condition  of  life,  are  some  of  the  modifying  circum- 
stances ;  the  agency  of  several  of  which  is  too  obvious  to  require  comment. 

Captain  Parry,!  in  his  Account  of  one  of  the  Polar  Expeditions,  states,  that  experience 
satisfied  him  that  the  following  daily  allowance  was  quite  enough  to  support  his  crew  on 
ship-boird  ;  that  is,  while  performing  the  ordinary  or  regular  ship  duties : — 

Biscuit 10  ounces. 

Beef  Pemmicant 9  ounces. 

Sweetened  Cocoa  Powder    ....  1  ounce. 

Rum      ...  ....  1  gill. 

Tobacco        .......  3  ounces  per  week. 

But  this  quantity  was  found  to  be  by  no  means  sufficient  to  support  the  strength  of  the 
men  during  their  harassing  journey  across  the  ice,  living  constantly  in  the  open  air,  ex- 
posed to  the  wet  and  cold  for  twelve  hours  a  day,  seldom  enjoying  the  luxury  of  a  warm 
meal,  and  having  to  perform  very  severe  labor.  Their  strength  became  considerably  im- 
paired, owing  to  want  of  sufficient  sustenance  ;  and  both  Captain  Parry  and  ,Mr.  Bever- 
ley,  the  surgeon,  were  of  opinion,  that  in  order  to  maintain  the  strength  of  the  men  thus 
employed  for  several  weeks  together,  an  addition  would  be  requisite,  of  at  least  one  third 
more,  to  the  provisions  daily  issued.^ 

*  Third  Report  of  the  Inspectors  of  Prisons.     Supplement  to  Part  I.   Home  District,  p.  94.     1838. 

t  Narrative  of  an  Attempt  to  reach  the  North  Pole  in  boats  jilted  for  the  purpose,  and  attached  to  his  ma- 
jesty's ship  Hecla,  in  the  year  1827.  London,  1828. 

t  Pemmican  is  prepared  by  drying  large  thin  slices  of  the  lean  of  the  meat  over  the  smoke  of  wood 
fires,  then  pounding  it,  and,  lastly,  mixing  it  with  about  an  equal  weight  of  its  own  fat.  In  this  state  it 
is  ready  for  use  without  further  cooking. 

$  May  not  the  loss  of  strength  have  been  partly  owing  to  the  habitual  use  of  rum  and  tobacco  ?  Sir 
John  Ross  states,  that  when  on  the  same  expedition  to  the  North  Pole,  he,  with  his  crew,  abandoned  the 
use  of  spirituous  liquors  "  with  the  most  gratifying  results."  The  result  of  his  experimenUfhe  gives  as 
follows  : — 

"  When  men  under  hard  and  steady  labor  are  given  their  usual  allowance,  a  draught  of  grog,  or  a  j 
dram,  they  become  languid  and  faint,  losing  their  strength  in  reality,  while  they  attribute  that  to  the  ] 
continuance  of  their  fatiguing  exertions.  Pie  who  will  make  the  corresponding  experiments  on  two  j 
equal  boats'  crews,  rowing  in  a  heavy  sea,  will  soon  be  convinced  that  the  water-drinkers  will  far  out-  || 
do  the  others  " — (Sir  John  Ross's  "  Arctic  Expedition.") 

There  can  be  no  doubt,  however,  that  the  allowance  of  food  was  much  too  small  to  support  the 
strength. -L 


224  COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 

In  framing  prison  dietaries,  an  important  element  for  consideration  is  the  amount  and 
nature  of  the  laboi  to  which  the  prisoners  are  subjected  ;  those  who  are  put  to  hard  labor 
requiring  a  greater  quantity  of  food  to  enable  them  to  support  the  augmented  expenditure 
of  power.  Accordingly,  in  the  dietaries  framed  by  the  Inspectors  of  Prisons,  and  adopted 
by  Sir  James  Graham,  her  majesty's  Secretary  of  State  for  the  Home  Department,  this 
element  has  been  kept  in  view. 

An  opinion  has  of  late  prevailed  that  the  condition  of  life,  as  regards  liberty  or  imprison- 
ment, is  a  circumstance  which  modifies  the  quantity  of  food  necessary  for  the  mainte- 
nance of  health.  On  this  point  I  shall  quote  the  opinion  of  one  of  the  Inspectors  of 
Prisons,  in  his  own  words: — "In  the  construction  of  a  dietary  for  a  House  of  Correction, 
it  is  not  unfrequently  assumed  that  something  less  than  what  is  the  customary  food  of  ihe 
laboring  population  of  the  vicinity  should  be  sufficient  for  those  in  the  degraded  condition 
of  criminals.  Accordingly,  in  those  agricultural  districts  where  meat  forms  but  a  very 
small  proportion  of  the  ordinary  food,  less  lias  been  accorded,  and  in  some  instances  none, 
without  consideration  being  given  to  the  wide  distinction  between  the  condition  of  the 
freeman  and  the  prisoner : — the  one  enjoying  purity  of  air,  active  bodily  and  healthful 
mental  exercise,  social  intercourse,  choice  and  diversity  of  diet  It  is  under  such  cir- 
cumstances that  the  smallest  modicum  of  animal  food  proves  sufficient  for  the  preserva- 
tion even  of  the  most  robust  health.  But  reverse  the  situation  :  place  the  individual,  as 
an  offender  against  the  law,  in  a  small,  cold,  ill- ventilated  cell ;  a  prey  to  his  own  reflec- 
tions, or,  what  is  worse,  with  his  mind  almost  a  vacuum,  cut  off  from  all  real  social  inter- 
course, subjected  to  the  irksome,  uninteresting  labor  of  treading  a  wheel  or  picking  oak- 
um ;  it  is  in  this  condition,  I  contend,  that  the  stimulus  of  animal  food  becomes  indispen- 
sable for  his  support  against  the  inroads  of  low  and  debilitating  diseases.  I  scarcely  re- 
collect an  instance  of  scurvy  being  prevalent  in  a  prison  but  where  it  might  be  distinctly 
traced  to  a  want  of  variety  in  the  diet,  and  its  deficiency  in  nutritive  qualities."* 

That  deprivation  of  liberty,  with  all  its  accompanying  restrictions,  exercises  a  depress- 
ing influence  on  the  mind,  and  through  this  on  the  body,  cannot  be  for  a  moment  doubted. 
In  this  indirect  way  it  becomes  a  means  of  affecting  the  organic  functions  ;  and  thus  it 
happens  that  an  amount  of  nutriment,  which,  under  the  most  cheering  circumstances,  is 
barely  sufficient  to  sustain  health,  may  prove,  when  conjoined  with  depressing  mental  in- 
fluences, totally  insufficient  for  the  maintenance  of  health,  and  may  be  followed  by  scurvy 
and  other  diseases  known  to  be  common  consequences  of  defective  sustenance. 

And  here  I  may  be  permitted  to  remind  my  reader,  that  scurvy  has  ever  been  a  dis- 
ease remarkable  for  the  influence  exercised  over  it  by  passions  of  the  mind.  In  Lord 
Anson's  Voyage,  we  are  told,  "that  whatever  discouraged  the  seamen,  or  at  any  time 
damped  their  hopes,  never  failed  to  add  new  vigor  to  the  distemper;  for  it  usually  killed 
those  who  were  in  the  last  stages  of  it,  and  confined  those  to  their  hammocks  who  were 
before  capable  of  some  kind  of  duty.  So^  that  it  seemed  as  though  alacrity  of  mind  and 
sanguine  thoughts  were  no  contemptible  preservatives  from  its  fatal  malignity."  Mr. 
Ives,  in  his  Journal,  also  gives  an  excellent  illustration  of  the  beneficial  influence  of  men- 
tal exhilaration  on  this  disease  ;  for  he  states,  "Upon  the  British  fleet  coming  into  the  Bay 
ofHiere?,  ((February,  1744,)  our  men  understood  that  the  enemy's  fleet  and  ours  wrrt' 
soon  to  engage.  There  appeared  not  only  in  the  healthy,  but  also  in  the  sick,  the  highest 
marks  of  satisfaction  and  pleasure,  and  these  last  mended  surprisingly  daily,  insomuch 
that  on  the  llth  of  February,  the  day  we  engaged  the  combined  fleets  of  France  and 
Spain,  we  had  not  above  four  or  five  but  what  were  at  their  fighting  quarters."  Dr. 

*  Seventh  Report  of  the  Inspectors  of  Prisons.    II.  Northern  and  Eastern  District,  p.  iii.     London,  1842. 


DIETARIES. 


Lind*  relates  a  still  more  striking  exemplification  of  the  position  here  contended  for,  as 
having  occurred  at  the  siege  of  Breda  in  1625. 

In  the  Dietaries  for  Prisons  recently  adopted  by  the  Secretary  of  State,  the  length  of 
imprisonment  has,  very  properly  as  I  conceive,  been  taken  into  consideration.  For  if  it 
be  admitted  that  imprisonment  has  an  injurious  influence  over  the  nutrition  of  the  body, 
it  is  obvious  that  the  longer  the  period  the  more  marked  will  be  the  effect.  Those,  therefore, 
who  have  to  suffer  prolonged  terms  of  imprisonment  require  to  be  better  nourished  than 
those  who  are  sentenced  for  shorter  periods,  in  order  to  enable  them  the  better  to  resist 
the  depressing  influences  to  which  they  are,  for  a  more  lengthened  term,  to  be  subjected  ; 
and  the  consequences  of  which  (viz.  loss  of  health  and  strength)  constitute  "a  punish- 
ment not  contemplated  by  law,  and  which  it  is  unjust  and  cruel  to  inflict."f 

Observation  and  experiment  have  fully  proved  the  absolute  necessity  of  considerable 
variety  of  food  for  the  preservation  of  health  and  life  ;  and  there  is  nothing  surprising  in 
this.  The  body  is  made  up  of  many  principles,  differing  the  one  from  the  other  in  com- 
position and  chemical  properties ;  and  we  might  d  priori  have  presumed,  that  textures 
'V.'iich  are  chemically  different  would  require  different  aliments  for  their  nourishment. 
Tlie  living  body,  as  I  have  already  stated  (see  p.  3,  et  seq.,)  has  no  power  of  creating 
(v.mentary  substances ;  and  it  is  obvious,  therefore,  that  the  system  must  be  supplied 
wkh  foods  containing  all  the  elements  which  enter  into  its  composition.  Moreover,  it  is 
no'  sufficient  to  present  animals  with  these  elements  in  their  raw  or  uncombined  state  ; 
for  rhe  animal  system  has  no  power  of  forming  its  organic  constituents  out  of  simple  or 
eitMjentary  bodies.  It  is  capable  of  effecting  a  considerable  number  of  combinations  and 
decompositions ;  but  there  is  a  limit  to  its  chemical  powers.  It  cannot  form  the  organic 
co'v  ituents  of  the  tissues  out  of  any  substances  which  may  happen  to  contain  the  same1 
ci'3."^nts,  but  only  out  of  those  substances  whose  composition  and  properties  are  analo- 
goj>o  to,  or  identical  with,  those  of  the  principles  of  which  the  tissues  are  composed. 
With  the  exception  of  cellular  tissue  and  of  membranes,  of  the  brain  and  nerves,  which 
vegetables  cannot  produce,  Liebig  denies  that  the  animal  organism  has  the  power  of 
creating  any  of  the  organic  principles  which  compose  the  animal  tissues. 

Kitrogenized  foods  are  necessary  for  the  formation  of  tissues  into  the  composition  of 
which  nitrogen  enters.  Thus  proteinaceous  substances  (fibrine,  albumen,.  caseine,-and 
gluten)  serve  for  the  formation  of  muscle  and  of  the  albuminous  tissues,  and,  in.  the  case 
of  infants  nourished  by  milk  alone,  they  must  also  become  food  for  the  gelatinous  tissues 
(cartilage,  cellular  tissue,  membrane,  the  true  skin,  &c.)  But  as  the  foods  on  which  the 
adult  animal  feeds,  contain,  or  are  capable  of  yielding,  gelatine,  it  is  probable  that  the 
gelatinous  tissues  are,  in  this  case,  wholly  or  partially  nourished  from  this  source. 

Noo-nitrogenized  foods  serve  several  important  purposes  in  the  animal  economy; 
though  perhaps  their  ultimate  use  is  to  act  as  fuel  to  be  burnt  in  the  lungs,  and  thereby  to 
develop  sufficient  heat  to  support  the  high  temperature  necessary  for  the  manifestation 
of  vital  power.  Oily  or  fatty  substances,  sugar,  and  the  starchy  or  amylaceous  substances, 
serve  this  purpose.  They  save  the  injurious  and  excessive  action  of  oxygen  on  the  tis- 
sues of  the  body.  "By  diminishing  the  amount  of  alkali  in  the  blood,  and  by  giving  non- 
nitrogenous  food,  the  scurvy  is  cured,  or  prevented,  in  consequence  of  such  substances 
being  acted  on  instead  of  the  tissues  of  the  body.  No  other  explanation  can  be  given  of 
the  benefit  which  arises  from  vegetable  acids,  from  fiesh  vegetables,  from  sugar,  wine, 

*  Treatise  on  the  Scurvy. 

t  Sir  J.  R.  G.  Graham,  in  a  Circular  Letter  to  the  Chairmen  of  Quarter  Sessions,  dated  Jan.  27, 
1843. 

15 


2*26  COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 


beer,  wort,  treacle,  potatoes,  &c.,  all  of  which  have  been  used  with  the  best  effects."*  Oily 
or  fatty  substances  are  absorbed,  and  afterwards  either  laid  up  in  cells,  to  be  consumed  at 
some  future  time,  or  'mmediately  burnt  in  the  lungs  to  furnish  heat.  According  to  Liebig, 
saccharine  and  farinaceous  substances  also  contribute  to  the  formation*  of  fat,  though,  as  I 
have  before  stated,  Dumas  denies  this. 

J.  DIETARIES  FOR  CHILDREN. 

In  children  the  function  of  nutrition  is  more  active  than  in  adults.  They  have  not 
merely  to  repair  the  daily  waste,  that  is,  to  renovate  their  tissues,  but  to  grow.  Their 
functions  of  circulation  and  respiration  are,  therefore,  more  active  than  in  after  life  ;  and 
they  require  food;  that  is,  substances  to  support  the  process  of  respiration,  to  be  admin- 
istered at  shorter  intervals. 

There  is  also  another  reason  why  in  children  the  elements  of  respiration  (non-nitroge- 
nous foods)  are  more  necessary  than  in  adults.  In  the  former  the  transformation  or  me- 
tamorphosis of  the  existing  tissues  is  less  intense  than  in  the  latter.  In  an  adult,  who 
neither  gains  nor  loses  in  weight  perceptibly  from  day  to  day,  the  nourishment  and  waste 
of  organized  tissue  are  equally  balanced  ;  but  in  the  young  the  weight  augments  daily, 
and,  consequently,  the  nourishment  must  exceed  the  waste.  In  order  that  this  may  take 
place,  the  child  must  be  supplied  with  a  sufficient  quantity  of  non-nitrogenous  food, 
which,  by  yielding  carbon  and  hydrogen  to  be  burnt  in  the  lungs,  protects  the  organized 
tissues  from  the  transformations  consequent  on  the  injurious  action  of  oxygen.  "What 
is  wanting  for  these  purposes  an  infinite  wisdom  has  supplied  to  the  young  animal  in  its 
natural  food.  The  carbon  and  hydrogen  of  butter,  and  the  carbon  of  the  sugar  of  milk, 
no  part  of  either  of  which  can  yield  blood,  fibrine,  or  albumen,  are  destined  for  the  support 
of  the  respiratory  process,  at  an  age  when  a  greater  resistance  is  opposed  to  the  meta- 
morphosis of  existing  organisms ;  or,  in  other  words,  to  the  production  of  compounds 
which  in  the  adult  state  are  produced  in  quantity  amply  sufficient  for  the  purpose  of 
respiration.  The  young  animal  receives  the  constituents  of  its  blood  in  the  caseine  of  the 
milk.  A  metamorphosis  of  existing  organs  goes  on,  for  bile  and  urine  are  secreted  ;  the 
matter  of  the  metamorphosed  parts  is  given  off  in  the  form  of  urine,  of  carbonic  acid,  and 
of  water;  but  the  butter  and  sugar  of  milk  also  disappear;  they  cannot  be  detected  in  the 
faeces.  The  butter  and  sugar  are  given  out  in  the  form  of  carbonic  acid  and  water,  and 
their  conversion  into  oxidized  products  furnishes  the  clearest  proof  that  far  more  oxyir^n 
is  absorbed  than  is  required  to  convert  the  carbon  and  hydrogen  of  the  metamorphosed 
tissues  into  carbonic  acid  and  water.  The  change  and  metamorphosis  of  organized  tis- 
•  m»«»  going  on  in  the  vital  process  in  the  young  animal,  consequently  yield,  in  a  given 
time,  much  less  carbon  and  hydrogen,  in  the  form  adapted  for  the  respiratory  process, 
ttfcan  corresponds  to  the  oxygen  taken  up  in  the  lungs.  The  substance  of  its  organized 
ftfirts  would  undergo  a  more  rapid  consumption,  and  would  necessarily  yield  to  the  action 
«f  oxygen,  were  not  the  deficiency  of  carbon  and  hydrogen  supplied  from  another  source. "f 

Children,  for  the  most  part,  evince  an  almost  instinctive  fondness  for  sugar,  which  is 
supplied  to  them  in  their  mother's  milk.  This  perhaps  is  to  be  explained  by  the  fact  that 
at 'is  an  element  of  respiration,  and,  therefore,  is  more  necessary  for  them  than  adults,  on 
accaunt  of  the  greater  activity  of  their  function  of  respiration.  But  this  fondness  for 
sugar  is  by  no  means  universal  among  children.  In  very  cold  countries,  substances 
ricuu.  in  carbon  and  hydrogen,  and,  therefore,  yielding  more  heat  by  combustion,  are  pre- 
ferred. *iu  one  of  those  late  extravagant  voyages  to  discover  a  northwest  passage," 

•  *  Mr..Beaee  Jones,  On  Gravel,  Calculus,  and  Gout,  p.  48.  Lond.     1S42. 
t  Liebig's  Animal  Chemistry,  pp.  68  and  69. 


DIETARIES  FOR  CHILDREN.  227 

says  Sir  Anthony  Carlisle,*  "the  most  northern  race  of  mankind  were  found  to  be  unac- 
quainted with  the  taste  of  sweets,  and  their  infants  made  very  wry  faces,  and  sputtered 
^out  sugar  with  disgust ;  but  the  little  urchins  ginned  with  ecstasy  at  the  sight  of  a  bit 
of  whale's  blubber." 

The  natural  appetite  I  believe  to  be  an  index  jf  the  wants  of  the  system ;  and  ought, 
therefore,  to  be  consulted,  to  a  certain  extent,  in  the  dieting  of  children ;  and  T  believe 
that  parents  commit  a  gross  error  who  totally  disregard  it.  I  have  seen  children  refused 
vegetable  food,  though  they  ardently  desired  it,  because  they  would  not  eat  what  their 
nurses  supposed  to  be  the  proper  proportion  of  animal  food ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  I 
have  known  children  denied  animal  food,  on  the  mistaken  notion  that  it  would  be  inju- 
rious to  them,  though  the  digestive  functions  were  active,  and  the  appetite  for  meat  most 
keen. 

Arrow-root,  tapioca,  sago,  potato-starch,  tous-ks-mois,  sugar,  butter,  and  other  fatty 
bodies,  are  elements  of  respiration,  and  if  used  in  greater  quantity  than  is  necessary  for 
combustion  in  the  lungs,  they  contribute  to  the  increase  of  fat;  but  they  do  not  contain 
the  necessary  ingredients  for  the  growth  of  bone,  cartilage,  ligament,  muscle,  membrane, 
and  cellular  tissue.  For  the  latter  purpose,  nitrogenized  food  is  necessary.  The  caseine 
or  curd  of  milk  is  an  aliment  of  this  kind,  supplied  by  nature,  for  the  use  of  mammals. 
It  is  a  proteinaceous  substa-nce.,  adapted  for  the  growth  of  the  organized  tissues ;  and  is 
accompanied  by  phosphate  of  lime,  which  is  necessary  for  the  solidification  of  bone.  The 
cereal  grains  (as  wheat,  barley,  oats)  also  yield  most  valuable  nitrogenized  foods  for  chil- 
dren ;  and  of  these,  Hard's  Farinaceous  Food,  Semolina,  Groats,  Oatmeal,  &c.,  have  been 
already  noticed. 

The  uses  of  aniiiitu  foods  (meats)  have  been  so  fully  described,  that  any  further  refer- 
ence to  them  is  unnecessary  here. 

Children  may  be  over  fed  or  under  fed.  Instances  of  the  former,  however,  are  com- 
paratively rare.  Of  the  ill  consequences  of  defective  nutriment  we  have,  unfortunately, 
too  many  instances  continually  presented  to  our  notice.  Irritable  bowels  or  diarrhoea, 
tumid  abdomen,  mesenteric  disease,  wasting,  and  fever,  are  the  ordinary  and  obvious 
effects-!  They  frequently  follow  the  continued  use  of  pea-soup  and  potato  stews, — dishes 
which  are  in  common  use  at  poor-houses  and  other  establishments  for  pauper  children. 
Scrofulous  and  strumous  diseases,  marasmus,  rickets,  distortions,  and  pot  bellies,  so  com- 
monly met  with  among  children  of  the  poor,  are  referrihje,  in  part  at  least,  to  food  defec- 
tive either  in  quantity  or  quality,  or  perhaps  in  both.  I  think  it  will  be  found  that  more 
than  two  thirds  of  pauper  children  are  strumous.  They  derive  this  condition  in  part, 
perhaps,  from  hereditary  tendency  ;  but  partly  also,  as  I  believe,  from  defective  nutriment- 
To  the  same  cause  also  is  ascribable  their  inferior  development.  If  the  children  in  poor- 
houses  be  examined,  they  will  be  found,  for  the  most  part,  smaller  and  shorter  for  their 
age,  more  frequently  distorted,  and  more  readily  fatigued,  than  the  children  of  the  mid- 
dling and  higher  classes. 

Subjoined  are  the  dietaries  of  several  of  the  principal  metropolitan  establishments  for 
children  : — 

*  Practical  Observations  on  ike  Preservation  of  Health,  p.  73.     London,  1838. 

•f  To  this  may  be  added  Ophthalmia,  formerly  a  very  prevalent  disease  in  the  Almshouse  and  Orphan 
Asylums  of  this  city. — L. 


COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 


1.  FOUNDLING  HOSPITAL. 


Breakfast 


Dinner  . 


Supper   . 


Breakfast 


Dinner  . 


Supper  , 


I.  DIET  FOR  CHILDREN  UNDER  NINE 
WJread,  4  oz.  Milk,  half  pint,  boiled  with  an  equal  quantity  of  water. 

Monday  .  .  .  4  oz.  uncooked  Mutton  for  roasting :  6  oz.  Potatoes  ;  2  oz.  of  Bread. 
Tuesday  .  .  .  4  oz.  of  unrooke/1  Beef  to  be  boiled  into  soup,  with  II  oz.  of  Rice  ;  4 

oz.  of  Bread. 

Wednesday  Same  as  Monday. 
Thursday  .  .  Same  as  Tuesday. 
Same  as  Monday. 

Rice  Pudding  (viz.  milk  I  pint,  rice  3  oz.,  treacle  i  oz.)  and  Suet 
Pudding  (viz.  flour  7i  oz.  suet  H  oz.  milk  I  of  a  pint)  alternately. 
4  oz.  of  uncooked  Beef  for  roasting  (cold  ;)  6  oz.  of  Potatoes ;  2  oz. 
of  Bread. 


Friday   . 
Saturday . 

Sunday. 


Bread,  4  oz. ;  i  of  a  pint  of  Milk. 


2.  DIET  FOR  CHILDREN  AT  AND  ABOVE  NINE. 
Bread  6  oz.,  Milk  i  pint,  boiled  with  an  equal  quantity  of  water. 

Monday  .  .  .  7  oz.  of  uncooked  Mutton,  for  roasting ;  K)  oz.  of  Potatoes. 

Tin  >dny  ...  7  oz.  of  uncooked  Beef,  to  be  boiled  into  soup ;  4  oz.  of  Bread. 

Wednesday  Same  as  Monday. 

Thursday  .  .  Same  as  Tuesday. 

Friday    ....  Same  as  Monday. 

Saturday .  .  .  Rice  Pudding,  with  Suet  Pudding  alternately. 

Sunday  ....  7  oz.  of  uncooked  Beef  for  roasting  (cold ;)  with  10  oz.  of  Potatoes. 

Bread,  6  oz.;  Butter,  I  oz. ;  Treacle  alternate  nights. 


2.  ROYAL  MILITARY  ASYLUM,  CHELSEA. 

(Boys  of  from  5  to  14  Years  of  Age.) 


Breakfast 


Dinner 


Supper 


Milk  Pottage.    Milk,  l-6th  of  a  quart;  Oatmeal,  l-16th  of  a  Ib. ;  Bread,  l-20th  of 
a  quartern  loaf. 

Sunday  .  .  .  .  ^  Meat,  8  oz. ;  Potatoes,  12  oz. ;  Bread,  l-20th  qu.  loaf. 


and 
stewed 


Tuesday  .  .  .  SV  1  [On  Sunday  the  meat  is  roast  beef;  on  Tuesday 
Thursday...  ,  .  '  [  Thursday,  stewed  beef;  and  on  Saturday,  st 
Saturday  .'.  .J  *  )  mutton.] 

Monday  .  .  .  .  )  Pudding,  Suet  H  oz.  ;  Flour,  6  oz.  ;  Potatoes,  8  oz.  ;  Beer,  half  a 
Friday  .....  $         pint. 

.Wednesday  .  .  Pea  Soup,  1  gill  ;   Potatoes,  12  oz.;  Bread,  .-20th  of  a  quartern 
loaf;  Beer,  half  a  pint. 


Daily  .......  Bread,  l-20th  of  a  quartern  loaf. 

Sunday  .  .  .  .  " 


i  f  Chee86'  "  °Z'  ? 
Saturday  .  .  .J 

Monday  ----  ) 

Wednesday  .  f  Milk,  half  a  pint. 
t  Friday  .....  } 

N.  B.—  The  Meat  is  estimated  as  taken  from  the  butcher,  fncludrcg  bone. 
A  proport  on  of  the  very  small  children  on  6  oz.  of  Meat. 


i 

DIETARIES  FOR  CHILDREN.                                      229 

i 

1 

1 

3.  NAVAL  ASYLUM,  GREENWICH. 

Breakfast  .... 
Dinner  .....< 

1  pint  Cocoa  (i  oz.  cocoa,  i  02.  sugar,  1  gill  milk  ;)  5  oz.  Bread. 
Snml™           f  Roast  Beef,  9£  oz. 

'l,Sy:::k°»oz- 

Wy-.tej}^,. 

Monday  .  .  .  .  >  <,        p,,^;™  1  **  oz-  Suet> 
Friday  \  ^             dlnS  \  6  oz.  Flour-Bread  and  Beer  as  above. 

Wednesday    1  Pea  S°Up  (1  gil1  °f  Peas-) 
'  ^    >  Potatoes,  8  oz.  —  Bread  and  Beer  as  above. 

=  Saturday  .  .  .  j  Mutton,^  boiled  j  Irish  Stew-Bread  and  Beer. 
Half  pint  Milk,  and  5  oz.  of  Bread. 

4.  INFANT  ORPHAN  ASYLUM,  DALSTON. 

Breakfast  .... 
Dinner  .    .    .    .     .  •< 

Bread  and  Milk  daily. 

Monday  .  .  .     Meat,  or  boiled  Beef-steak  Pudding. 
Tuesday  .  .     Mutton,  (not  over  boiled,)  Potatoes,  and  boiled  Rice. 
Wednesday     Cold  Mutton,  and  Family  Pudding. 
Thursday   .     Roasted  Legs  of  Mutton  and  Potatoes. 
Friday  .  .     .     Cold  Mutton,  and  Family  Pudding. 
Saturday  .  .     Roasted  Beef,  Potatoes,  and  Suet  Pudding. 
_  Sunday  .  .  .     Cold  roasted  Beef,  and  mashed  Potatoes. 
Beverage  —  Toast-  water. 

Bread  and  Butter,  with  Milk  and  Water. 

3e  years  of  age  to  have  Beef  Tea,  or  Mutton  Broth,  besides  cold  Meat,  on  Sundays, 
officers  prescribe,  Beer  is  substituted  at  dinner  for  Toast-water. 
)  consist  of  dried  Raisins,  Apples,  Rhubarb,  &c.  according  to  the  season, 
are  occasionally  introduced;  as  circumstances  require. 
:  the  best  quality,  and  two  days  old  before  cut. 
st  of  top  sides  of  rounds  of  the  best  Ox  Beef,  weighing  about  28  Ibs.,  and  legs  of  the 
weighing  about  10  Ibs.  each. 

As  much  as  they  like  to  eat,  within  moderation. 

Supper 

Children  under  thr 
Where  the  medica 
Family  Puddings  tc 
Green  Vegetables 
The  Bread  to  be  <> 
The  joints  to  consi 
best  Wether  Mutton, 

5.  MR.  AUBIN'S  ESTABLISHMENT  AT  NORWOOD,  SURREY. 

i 

Breakfast  .... 
Dinner  • 

Milk  Porridge,  with  Bread  in  it. 

'  Sunday  ....  1 
Tuesday  .  .  .  >  Baked  or  Boiled  Mutton  or  Beef,  with  Vegetables  and  Broth. 
Thursday  .  .  .  ) 

Monday  .  .  .  .  )  goup  with  Brea(]  Jn  u 

| 

sltudrd7y  ay    {  Baked  or  Boiled  Rice  PuddinS>  with  Milk  and  Su8ar' 
Supper  Bread  and  Butter,  with  Milk  and  Water. 

Children  under  8  years  not  restricted  to  quantity,  :  those  from  8  to  14  or  15  are  allowed  U  pints  Por- 
ridge, 4  oz  Bread,  5  oz.  Meat,  1  Ib.  Potatoes,  *  pint  Broth,  H  pints  Soup,  16  oz.  boiled  Rice,  6  or  8  oz.  of 
Bread  and  Butter.     Those  under  7  years  of  age  to  be  allowed  Sago,  Arrow-root,  Milk,  or  any  other 
nourishment  their  tender  age  may  require. 
Children,  when  ill,  to  be  dieted  by  the  medical  attendant.     Roast  Veal  or  Pork  to  be  allowed  on 
Easter  and  Whit-Sundays,  ahd  Roast  Beef  and  Plum  Pudding  on  Christmas  day. 

L  .  

230                                          COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 

6.  DIETARY  FOR  FOUNDLINGS  AND  ORPHANS  OF  THE 

HOSPICE  DES  ENFANS  TROUVES, 

AND  THE  LUNATIC  AND  INFIRM  CHILDREN  OF  THE 

HOSPICES  DES  INCURABLES,*  IN  PARIS. 

DIVISION 

QUANTITY    ALLOWED. 

OF    THE 

KIND  OF  FOOD. 

DAY. 

Unprepared. 

Prepared. 

CLASS  I.  —  Infants  less  than  a  Month  old. 

Milk                                .        .                

30  cent. 

: 

Daily  

Vermicelli,  Semolina,'  Wheaten  or  Rice  Flour 



1  decag. 

Sugar      ........... 

?m 

3  decag. 

CLASS  II.—  Infants  from  One  to  Twelve  Months  old, 
or  until  weaning. 

f 

Milk                . 

50  cent. 

1 

Daily  < 

White  Bread  
Vermicelli,  Semolina,  Wheaten  or  Rice  Flour 

— 

5  di 
3  decag. 

I 

Sufjtir 

— 

5  decag. 

CLASS  III.—  Children  from  One  to  Two  Years  old 

Daily  

White  Bread  

_ 

30  decag. 

Breakfast  .  . 

Soup  or  Milk  Porridge    
.Meat  Broth  for  Soup,  or  Vegetable  Broth  for  Soup 

— 

ant 

'JO  cent. 

Meat  .                ......... 

10  decag. 
5  cent. 

7  drcag. 
10  cent. 

or  Dry  Legumes  (Haricots,  Split-peas,  Lentils)  .  . 

Dinmr 

or  Fresh  Vegetables  (Cabbage,  Turnips,  Carrots)  . 

18  decag. 

12  cent. 

or  Potatoes     

18  decag. 

18  cent. 

or  liice                                      .                                      * 

3  decag. 

15  cent 

op  Effgs                   .....                ... 

1  No. 

Dry  Legumes         

5  cent. 

10  cent. 

18  decag. 

1'J  cent 

or  Potatoes     

18  decag. 
3  decac 

1"  cent. 

16  ClMit 

Prunes       ...                

5  decag. 

7  cent. 

or  Currant  Jelly     

2  d- 

1 

.__ 

3  d- 

«/    U' 

L 

CLASS  IV.—  Children  from  Two  to  Six  Years  old. 

f 

White  Bread  for  Soup,  for  Boys  and  Girls    . 

— 

10  (i 

Daily  .  .  .  J 

Middling  Bread  jg$g8;       ;      ;       ;       ;                    ; 
Wine  for  Boys  and  Girls       

— 

»»  d 

2f,  .! 
10  cent. 

Jours  Gras,  (Sundays,  Mondays,  Tuesdays,  Wednesdays, 

and  Thursdays.) 

Oradtfu,  .  . 

Vegetable  Broth  (Bouillon  maigre)  for  Soup  3  QJ^ 

— 

30  ce;?.t. 

2n  rent. 

Dinner  .  .  .-i 

Meat  Broth  (Boullion  gras)  for  Soup  j  *  ,V^ 

15  d- 

30  cent. 
20  cent. 
7  decag. 

( 

(  Girls 

12  d> 

G  decag. 

c 

>ry  Legumes 

6  cent. 

12  cent. 

>r  Froth  Vegetables 

24  decag. 

16  cent. 

>r  Potatoes 

24  decag. 

24  cent. 

Sitjpr       .  ^ 

>r  Rice 

4  decag. 

20  cent. 

Cheese        ... 

— 

4  decag. 

or  Prunes        ... 

8  decag. 

12  cent. 

i 

>r  Kaixinc  (Thick  confection  of  Grapes) 

5  decag. 

Jour*  Maigres  (Fridays  and  Saturdays.) 

Breakfast  .  . 

Vegetable  Broth  for  Soup  j  %?$*         .... 

- 

30  cent. 

20  eenf. 

*  From  the  Reglement  sur  le  Rt'gimr  Alimcnfaire  dss  Hopitaux  et  Hospices  civils  de  la  Ville  Pa'is,  ap- 

prouie  par  I   M  n<stre  de  VInlerieur,  le  30  Novembre,  1841.     Paris,  .,,$41. 

DIETARIES  FOR  CHILDREN. 


231 


TABLE  SIX.— Continued. 


DIVISION 

OF    THE 

DAY. 

KIND  OF  FOOD. 

QUANTITY    ALLOWED. 

Unprepared. 

Prepared. 

f 

Vegetable  Broth  for  Soup  1  |5?J| 

— 

30  cent. 
20  cent. 

Dinner  •  •  •  •» 

Dry  Legumes        
r  Fresh  Vegetables       

12  cent. 
50  decag. 

24  cent. 
36  cent. 

r  Potatoes      

50  decag. 

50  cent. 

I 

r  Eggs  

— 

1  No. 

6  cent. 

12  cent. 

24  decag. 

16  cent. 

or  Potatoes     

24  decag. 

24  cent. 

0 

r  Rice 

4  decag. 

20  cent. 

PI 

Cheese       .                

4  decag. 

or  Prunes       

8  decag. 

12  cent. 

T  Raisine       

— 

5  decag. 

CLASS  V.—  Children  from  Six  to  Twelve  Years  old. 

r 

White  Bread  for  Soup,  for  Boys  and  Girls    .... 

— 

12  decag. 

Dauy....\ 

Middling  Bread  ^?{*      '    ' 



40  decag. 
36  decag. 

I 

Wine  for  Boys  and  Girls  

— 

10  cent. 

Jours  Gras  (Sundays,  Mondays,  Tuesdays,  Wednesdays, 

and  Thursdays.) 

Breakfast  .  . 

Vegetable  Broth  (Boullion  maigre)  for  Soup  <  p^S 

— 

40  cent. 
30  cent. 

Af\  /t/vnt 

Meat  Broth  (Boullion  gras)  for  Soup  J  Q?^* 



Q\J  cpnt. 
30  cent. 

Dinner  .  .  .- 

Boiled  Meat  |  ^gs 

20  decag. 
16  decag. 

10  decag. 
8  decag. 

Dry  Legumes          ...                                  .                 . 

8  cent. 

16  cent. 

or  Fresh  Vegetables       .        .                                  . 

30  decag. 

20  cent. 

or  Potatoes      .... 

30  decag. 

30  cent. 

Supper 

or  Rice            .... 

5  decag. 

25  cent. 

Cheese        .... 

— 

5  decag. 

or  Prunes         .                           . 

10  decag. 

15  cent. 

or  RUM  me  (Thick  confection  of  grapes) 

— 

6  decag. 

Jours  Maigttt    Fridays  nnd  Saturdays.) 

(  R 

40  cent. 

Breakfast  .  . 

Vegetnh.e  Broth  for  Soup  \  jj?^*  ' 

30  cent. 

f 

Vegetable  Broth  for  Soup  $  Q?J*  

— 

40  cent. 
30  cent. 

Dinner  •  •  ••( 

Dry  Legumes          .                 

15  cent. 
60  decag. 
60  decag. 

30  cent. 
40  cent. 
60  cent. 

or  Potatoes      .        .         .        .              »  

1 



1  No. 

V. 

Dry  Legumes          .        

8  cent. 

16  cent. 

30  decag. 
50  decag. 

20  cent. 
30  cent. 

e 

5  decag. 

25  cent. 

PP 

5  decag. 

10  decag. 

15  cent. 

or  Raisine       

6  decag. 

CLASS  VI.—  Children  Twelve  Years  old  and  upwards- 

I 

White  Bread  for  Soup,  for  Boys  and  Girls    .... 

12  decag. 
54  decag. 

Daih  .       .<{ 

Middling  Bread  j  J^y-  s           ..*.....- 

jf 

48  decag. 

i 



10  cent 

^ 

Jours  Gras  (Sundays,  Mondays,  Tuesdays,  Wednesdays, 

and  Thursdays.) 

- 

Breakfast  .  . 

Vegetable  Broth  (Boullion  maigre)  for  Soup  $  G  9JJ 

— 

50  cent. 
40  cent. 

232 


COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 


TABLE  SIX.— Continued. 


DIVISION 

OF    THE 

DAY. 

KIND  OF  FOOD. 

QUANTITY    ALLOWED. 

Unprepared. 

Prepared. 

r 

Meat  Broth  (Bouillon  gras)  for  Soup  J  J5?J'* 

50  cent. 
10  cent. 

Dinntr  .  .  ••{ 

\ 

Boiled  Meat  $  g?^8 

Dry  Legumes 
or  Fresh  Vegetables 

25  decag. 
20  decag. 
10  cent. 
36  decag. 

13  decng. 

10  decag. 
'JO  ,-ont. 
24  cent 

or  Potatoes 

36  decag. 

36  cent 

Supper  .  .  .- 

or  Rice       .     . 

6  decag. 

3  »  cent 

Cheese  ...                 ... 

m  _^ 

6  decag. 

or  Prunes  ...                ... 

12  decag 

18  cent. 

I 

or  Raisine  (Thick  confection  of  grapes) 

— 

7  decag. 

Jours  Maigres  (Fridays  and  Saturdays.) 

Breakfast  .  . 

Vegetable  Broth  for  Soup  j  {J?J'' 

— 

50  cent. 
40  cent. 

Vegetable  Broth  for  Soup  j  J??-|'*  ' 

— 

50  cent 
40  cent 

Dinner 

Dry  Legumes         

18  cent 
70  d6cag. 
70  decag. 

36  cent 
45  cent 
70  rent 

>r  Fresh  Vegetables       .... 
or  Potatoes     

or  Eggs  ......... 

__^ 

2  No. 

10  cent 

20  cent. 

or  Fresh  Vegetables       

36  decag. 

«nt 

or  Potatoes                      ...                .        . 

36  decag. 

:#>  cf-nt. 

Supper 

or  Rice   .                        ...                . 

6  decag. 

30  cent. 

Cheese                        

— 

6  d.-cag. 

or  Prune/                         

12  decag. 

18  cent. 

ior  Raisine                          ...... 

7  decag. 

V  The  abbreviation  cent,  means  centilitre.  Thus,  50  centilitres  are  equal  to  i  of  a  lilrr.  A  centilitre  is 
equal  to  2y"V  fluid  drachms  (Apothecaries'  measure;)  while  a  litre  is  equal  to  2j-1<5'Vo'  pints  (Apothecaries' 
measure.)  The  abbreviation  decag.  means  decagrammes  or  10  grammes,  equal  to  154yVo  tr°y  groins. 

7.  MERCHANTS'  SEAMEN'S  ORPHAN  ASYLUM. 

(Ages  of  Children  from  7  to  15  Years.) 


Breakfast   .     . 

.    .    i  Ib.  Bread, 

i  pint  Milk. 

f  Sunday  .  .  . 

•} 

j  Tuesday  .  . 

.  1 

Wednesday 

>i  Ib.  Meat,  6  oz.  Potatoes,  4f  oz.  Flour. 

Dinner  .     .     . 

j  Thursday  . 
•1  Friday  

J. 

Monday  .  .  . 
[_  Saturday  .  . 

(  17  Ibs.  Rice,  boiled  and  divided  among  90  children. 
'  j  i  Ib.  Bread. 
'  (  10  Ibs.  Peas  in  Soup,  divided  among  90  children. 

Supper  . 

i  Ib.  Bread, 

1  oz.  Cheese. 

2.  DIETARY  FOR  THE  NAVAL  SERVICE  * 

"The  victualling  of  the  Navy,"  says  Dr.  John  Wilson,f  "is  as  nearly  as  possible  uni- 
form throughout  the  service  as  circumstances  will  permit;  at  sea  it  is  almost  entirely  so  ; 
in  harbor  it  varies  more  or  less,  according  to  the  supplies  of  fresh  provisions  procurable 
in  different  places." 

In  the  "Regulations  for  His  Majesty's  Service  at  Sea,"  established  -v  the  King  in 
Council,  Jan.  1st,  1833,  is  contained  the  following  scale  of  diet  used  in  the  Navy  : — 

*  Appendix,  19. 

t  Statistical  Reports  of  the  HtaOh  of  the  Navy,  for  the  Years  1830-1836.  South  American,  West  Indian 
and  North  American,  Mediterranean  and  Peninsular  Commands.  Ordered  by  the  House  of  Commons  to 
be  printed,  March  24,  1840. 


NAVAL  DIETARY. 


233 


"  There  shall  be  allowed 

to  every  person  serving  in  His  Majesty's  ships  the  following  quantities  of' 

provisions  :—  viz  : 

; 

RrpnH 

]    Ib.                          Fresh  Meat  ....         1 

Ib  ) 

Beer       .... 

1    gallon.                              and 

(~^nr»nn 

1      n-7                                      Vpo-Pt«h1p<j                           i  Ih    S 

*%  ll<Tar 

li  oz                          Tea        .                      i  oz 

"  When  Fresh  Meat  and 

Vegetables  are  not  issued,  there  shall  be  allowed  in  lieu  thereof  — 

Salt  Beef.  .  . 

4  Ib.  1                         (  or  Salt  Pork  ...    f  Ib. 

and 

>     alternately    \         and 

1 

Plnur 

*  Ih    \                                1  Pfias   .  .                    .      1 

pint. 

"  And  weekly,  whether  Fresh  or  Salt  Meat  be  issued  — 

r     • 

DiltlTlCl. 

il 

i  pint                           Vinegar                      i 

pint. 

*  The  following  Scheme  shows  the  proportion  of  Provisions  with  Salt  Meat  for  each  man  for!4  days  :— 

DAYS  OF  THE 
WEEK. 

Bread 

Beer 

Sugar  Cocoa     Tea     Beef     Pork    Flour 

Peas     Oat-,    Vfhe- 
meal      gar. 

Ib. 

gall. 

oz.         oz.        oz.         Ib.         Ib.         Ib. 

pint 

Sunday 

1 

1 

li                        i           *          -            * 

Monday 

1 

1 

1*                        i      *    -  *         4         - 

M 

Tuesday 

1 

1 

1ft                        i           *          -           * 

- 

Wednesday 

1 

1 

It                        *   .      -           4          - 

ftl 

Thursday 

1 

1 

It                        i           *          -            * 

-f    i       i 

Friday 

1 

1 

It                        i          -            * 

* 

Saturday 

1 

1 

It                        i           *          -            * 

-J 

Sunday 

1 

li                      i         -           * 

i 

Monday 

1 

It                    t         4        -         4 

— 

Tuesday 

1 

It                    i        -         4        - 

i 

Wednesday 

1 

It                    i         *        -          * 

t       t 

Thursday 

1 

It                    i        -          *        - 

ft 

Friday 

1 

It                    i         *        -         * 

— 

Saturday 

1 

It                    i        -          4 

* 

Proportion  ) 
for  14  days  $ 

14 

14 

21        14           3t         5t         5ft         5t 

3i         1           1 

"  On  the  days  on  which  Flour  is  ordered  to  be  issued,  Suet  and  Raisins  or  Currants  may 

be  substituted 

for  a  portion  of  Flour. 

1  Ib.  of  Raisins  being  considered  equal  to  1  Ib.  of  Flour 

i  Ib.  of  Currants 
i  Ib.  of  Suet  .     . 

'     '      5          ditto                ditto 

"  In  case  it  should  be  found  necessary  to  alter  any  of  the  above  species  of  Provisions,  and 
to  issue  others  as  their  substitutes,  it  is  to  be  observed  that  — 

H  Ib.  of  Soft  Bread         ^ 

or 

1 

Ib.of 

Rice    . 

to  be  considered  equal  to  1  Ib.  of 

Biscuit. 

or 

1 

Ib.of 

Flour  . 

1 

pint  of  Wine 
or 

>  is  to  be  considered  equal  to  1  gallon  of  Beer.* 

i 

pint  of  Spirits     .     .      ) 

1 

oz.  of  Coffee      .     .      ) 

or 

>  is  to  be  considered  equal  to  1  oz. 

of  Cocoa. 

i 

oz.  of  Tea    .    .    .      ) 

1 

Ib.of 

Rice    . 

or 

1 

pint  of  Calavancest    ^  is  to  be  considered  equal  to  1  pint  of  Peas. 

or 

1 

pint  of  DhollJ    .    .     J 

i 
2 

Ib.  of  Butter      .     .        is  to  be  considered  equal  to  1  Ib.  of  Cocoa. 
Ibs.  of  Cheese     .     .         are  to  be  considered  equal  to  1  Ib  of  Cocoa. 

i 

Ib.  of 

onions 

or 

is  to  be  considered  equal  to  1  Ib.  of  other  Vegetables." 

$ 

Ib.of 

Leeks 

*  Half  a  pint  of  spirits  is  not  equal  to  one  gallon  of  beer,  nor  to  one  spoonful.     It  contains  no  nutri- 
ment,  as  we  have  shown  elsewhere,  but  is  a  pure  stimulant.  —  L. 
t  Calavances,  a  kind  of  pulse.     According  to  Sir  H.  Sloane  it  is  the  Phaseolus  sphcerospe'mus. 
t  Dholl  or  Dal  is  the  split  peas  of  India.     That  which  is  obtained  from  Phaseolus  radialus  is  reckoned 

the  best  kind. 

J 

234  COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 


"After  fourteen  days'  use  of  salt  food,  lemon  juice,  with  an  additional  allowance  of 
sugar,  is  issued  as  an  antiscorbutic."* 

From  these  statements  it  is  obvious  that  the  quantity  of  food  supplied  to  the  Navy  is 
most  ample,  though  not  excessive.  The  total  weekly  allowance,  when  either  fresh  or  salt 
meat  is  issued,  is  as  follows : — 


Fresh  Meat  Diet.                   Salt  Meat  Diet. 

Bread         .... 

112  oz. 

112oz. 

Meat           .... 

112  oz. 

84  oz. 

Vegetables 

56  oz. 

0 

Flour  

0 

42  oz. 

Peas            .... 
Oatmeal  [i  pint  say] 

0  [11  pinl 
5  oz. 

&  say] 

29*  oz 
5oz. 

Sugar         .... 

loi-  ez. 

lOioz 

Cocoa         .... 

7  oz.                . 

7oz. 

Total        .        .        .  302i            .  .  .  290* 

Beer   .....  7  gallons  .  .           7  gallons 

Vinegar       ....  i  pint  .  .              i  pint 

Tea                     .                .  H  oz.                                   II  oz. 

The  substitution  of  one  kind  of  provision  for  another  is  an  excellent  arrangement,  by 
which  considerable  variety  of  food,  so  necessary  for  the  preservation  of  health,  is  ob- 
tained. A  reasonable  complaint,  however,  may  be  made  with  regard  to  the  scale  of  equi- 
valents adopted.  It  will  be  perceived  that  8  oz.  of  fresh  vegetables  are  considered  equal 
to  12  oz.  of  flour,  or  to  half  a  pint  of  peas:  whereas  in  reality  at  least  86  oz.  of  riv-h 
vegetables  are  required  to  be  equal  to  12  oz.  of  wheat  flour.f 

Dr.  Wilson  declares  the  naval  rations  to  be  both  abundant  in  quantity  and  excellent  in 
quality  ;  and  he  adds  that  they  contribute  largely  to  the  high  degree  of  health  now  enjoyed 
in  the  Royal  Navy. 

The  water  employed  in  the  navy  was  formerly  carried  to  sea  in  casks,  and  soon  be- 
came putrid  and  offensive  owing  to  the  vegetable  admixture.  The  substitution  of  iron 
tanks  for  casks  has  remedied  this  evil  ;  and  the  water  can  now  be  kept  for  any  length  of 
time  without  becoming  offensive  either  to  the  palate  or  nose.  The  metal  becom- 
dized,  and  the  oxide  of  iron  thus  formed  mixes  with  the  water;  but,  by  its  weight  and 
insolubility,  it  soon  falls,  at  least  for  the  most  part,  to  the  bottom  ;  and  should  a  small 
portion  remain  suspended  and  be  drank,  it  can  have  no  injurious  effect,  but  may  possibly 
prove  beneficial. 

*  Dr.  J.  Wilson's  Statistic!  Reports. 

t  In  making  the  above  calculation,  I  have  assumed  that  100  parts  of  wheat  flour  contain  83  parts  of 
dry  nutritive  mutter,  and  that  100  parts  of  fresh  vegetables  (potatoes,  cabbage,  carrots,  and  turnips)  con- 
tain, on  the  average,  only  12-15  parts  of  dry  nutritive  matter.  For 

100  parts  of  potatoes  contain  about  .        .        21    parts  dry  matter 

«-nl.!.  "  ...          7-7  " 

turnips  "  ...          7-5 

"  cnrrnts  "  ...         12-4  " 


Average         .....        12-15 

If  we  calculate  according  to  Boussingault's  nitrogen  scale  of  nutritive  equivalents,  (see  p.  27-23,)  about 
105i  parts  of  fresh  vegetables,  (potatoes,  cabbage,  carrot,  and  turnips,)  are  equivalent  to  12  parts  of 
wheat  flour. 


DIETARY  FOR  TROOPS  TO  INDIA. 


235 


Subjoined  are  the  Scale  of  Victualling  for  Troops  from  England  to  I-idia,  as  fixed  by 
the  East  India  Company  ;  and  the  Dietary  for  Emigrants,  as  fixed  by  Her  Majesty's 
t  <r'tvvynal  Land  and  Emigration  Commissioners  : — 

SCALE  OF  VICTUALLING  FOR  TROOPS  FROM  ENGLAND  TC   INDIA. 


For  Two  Days 

For  One  Day 
For  Three  Days 

For  One  Day 


(  Beef,*  Two  Pieces,  or 


Flour 
(  Suet 
S  Preserved  Meat 


16  Ib.     1 

51b. 

lib. 

61b. 

31b. 
18  Ib. 

5  Pints 

51b. 

Hlb. 

ilb. 
30  Ib. 

lib. 

61b. 

3  Pints 
42  Pints 


For  a  Mess  of  Six  Men 
per  Week. 


Pork,*  Three  Pieces,  or 
Peas 

Flour. 

Suet 

Plums 

I  Mustard 
Biscuit 
Su^ar  (crushed)'        ! 
Vinegar 
Best  London  Porter 

Water  at  the  rate  of  Seven  Pints  per  man  per  day,  for  twenty  weeks :  this  quantity 
covers  Wastage.  Lemon  Juice  at  the  rate  of  One  Quart  per  man  for  the  Voyage  out. 
The  allowance  of  Porter  to  be  exclusive  of  Wastage. 

Fresh  Beef  or  Mutton  to  be  issued  to  the  Troops  when  procurable  ;  li  Ib  per  man1  per 
day,  with  Vegetables  for  the  Soup,  and  Oatmeal. 

New  India  Beef  and  New  India  Pork  of  British  curing. 


QUANTITIES  FOR  EACH  MAN  PER  DAY. 


Sunday 

Monday 

Tuesday 

Wednesday 

Thursday 

Friday 

Saturday 


2H 


rt  u 

•sS. 


Pres 
M 


II 

pt. 
i 

i 
i 
i 
i 
i 
i 


5J 


i* 

§i 


11! 


N.B.  Women  receive  the  same  rations  as  Men,  and  Children  half  the  ration,  with  the 
exception  of  Beer,  half  the  ration  only  being  allowed  to  Women. 
The  Porter  to  be  in  Hogsheads  when  the  number  of  Persons  is  urder  120. 

DAILY  MEALS. 

Breakfast         ....        Biscuits,  Tea  and  'Sugar. 

Dinner According  to  the  above  Scale. 

Supper    .        .  •        •        Biscuits,  Tea  and  Sugar. 


236 


COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 


DIETARY  FOR  EMIGRANTS. 

The  passengeri  to  be  in  Messes  of  six  or  more,  as  the  Surgeon  may  determine:  and  to  be  victualled  ac- 
cording to  the  following  Scale,  for  one  Adult: — 


, 

! 

8 

. 

. 

. 

-3   ® 

DAYS. 

1 

1 

'- 

| 

3-1 

§ 

.5 

"3 

K 

V 

1 

1 

1 

i 

1 

i 

1 

-Z    J" 

J 

1 

Ib. 

Ib. 

Jb. 

Ib. 

to. 

02. 

oz. 

Ft. 

26. 

0?. 

02. 

to. 

02. 

Qte. 

P<. 

OS. 

oz. 

>unday   .  .  . 

i 

— 

— 

i 

i 

2 

H 

— 

i 

i 

— 

1 

— 

3 

N 

x 

londay  .  .  . 

\ 

— 

t 

— 

i 

— 

— 

T 

— 

— 

i 

— 

3 

3 

V 
V 

o 

1 

^uesday     .  . 

1 

i 

— 

— 

i 

2 

H 



i 

i 

— 

* 

— 

3 

is 

i 

Vednesday  . 

i 

— 

i 

— 

i 

— 

— 

* 

— 

— 

t 

— 

— 

3 

c 

•a 

8 

0 

Thursday    .  . 

1 

— 

— 

* 

i 

2 

li 

— 

J 

i 

— 

i 

— 

3 

a 

§ 

s 

Viday     .  .  . 

I 

_ 

i 

— 

ft 

— 

— 

i 

i 

— 

i 

— 

3 

3 

0 

•* 

7* 

Saturday    .  . 

1 

* 

— 

— 

i 

2 

11 

— 

— 

i 

— 

— 

— 

3 

*  The  Biscuit  must  not  be  of  a  more  inferior  description  than  the  second  quality  of  that 
article. 

t  Prime  new  Irish  East  India  Beef,  and  prime  mess  Pork. 
t  During  the  first  month  li  Ibs.  of  potatoes  may  be  substituted  for  i  Ib.  of  Rice. 

Women  and  Children  of  14  years  and  upwards,  to  receive  the  same  rations  as  Men  ;  Children 
from  7  to  14  to  receive  two  thirds,  and  Children  from  1  to  7  years  of  age  to  receive  one  half,  of 
the  above  quantities. 

The  Children  between   1  and  7  shall,  three  times  a  week,  receive  4  oz.  of  Rice,  or  3  oz.  of 
Sago,  each,  in  lieu  of  their  salt  Meat. 
Children  under  twelve  months  receive  no  rations. 

One  pound  of  fresh  Meat  and  one  pound  of  soft  Bread  per  adult,  to  be  issued,  with  a  suita- 

-5  the  Downs,  and  whenever  opportunity 
of  the  Flour,  Suet  and  Raisins,  Rice  and 


ble  quantity  of  Vegetables,  until  one  day  after  passing  the  Downs,  and  whenever  opportunity 
shall  oiler,  in  lieu  of  the  salt  and  preservad  Meat,  and  ofth 


Peas. 


3.  ARMY   RATIONS.* 


The  daily  allowance  to  the  Soldier  in  Great  Britain  is  1  Ib.  of  Bread,  and  3  Ib.  of  Meat,  making 
together  196  oz.  of  solid  food  weekly.  For  this  he  pays  a  fixed  sum  daily,  viz.  6d.  whatever 
may  be  the  market  price  ;  any  excess  being  paid  for  by  Government.  He  furnishes  himself 
with  other  provisions. 


4.  DIETARIES  FOR  PAUPERS. 

It  hr  5  been  very  properly  stated  by  the  Poor  Law  Commissioners,  that  in  the  dieting  of  the 
inmates  of  workhouses,  the  object  is  to  give  them  an  adequate  supply  of  wholesome  food, 
not  superior  in  quantity  or  quality  to  that  which  the  laboring  classes  in  the  respective 
neighborhoods  provide  for  themselves. 

To  effect  so  desirable  an  object,  the  Commissioners,  in  their  Second  Annual  Report 
(1836)  have  adopted  six  dietaries  (numbered  from  1  to  6)  for  use  in  poorhouses ;  and 
we  are  told  that  all  of  them  have  been  employed  in  different  parts  of  England,  and  have 
been  proved  to  be  sufficient  in  quantity,  and  perfectly  unexceptionable  as  to  the  nature  of 
the  provisions  specified  in  each. 


*  The  U.  States  ARMY  RATION,  is,  for  each  man,  daily,  18  ounces  of  bread,  and  either  20  ounces  of 
beef,  or  three  fourths  of  a  pound  of  pork,  but  no  vegetabl  sa.— This  amounts  to  266  oz.  of  solid  food  weekly, 
when  beef  is  allowed,  or  210  oz.  when  pork  is  allowed. — L. 


DIETARIES  FOR. PAUPERS. 


237 


DIETARY  FOR  ABLE-BODIED  MEN  AND  WOMEN. 


BREAKFAST. 

DINNER. 

SUPPER. 

Bread. 

Gruel. 

Cooked 

Pota- 

Soup. 

Suet  or 
Rice 

Bread. 

Cheese. 

Broth. 

Meat. 

toes. 

Pudd.ng. 

Sunday     .     .      (  Men     .     .     . 

02. 
6 

pints. 

It 

02. 

5 

tts. 

ft 

pints. 

02. 

02. 

6 

O2. 

pinf-f. 
H 

Tuesday  .     . 

Thursday      .      (  Women     .     . 

5 

it 

5 

ft 

— 

— 

5 

— 

H 

Monday    .     .      C  Men      .     .     . 

6 

H 





H 



6 

2 

Wednesday  .      <  Women     .    . 

5 

It 



_ 

1ft 



5 

2 



Saturday  .     .      ( 

Frida                    J  Men      .     . 

6 

It 







14 

6 

2 

_ 

I  Women     . 

5 

I* 

— 

— 

— 

12 

5 

2 

— 

Old  people  of  60  years  of  age  and  upwards,  may  be  allowed  1  oz.of  tea,  5  oz.  of  butter,  and  7 
oz.  of  sugar,  per  week,  in  lieu  of  gruel  for  breakfast,  if  deemed  expedient  to  make  this  change. 
Children  under  9  years  of  age  to  be  dieted  at  discretion  ;  above  9,  to  be  allowed  the  same 

quantities  as  women. 

2.  GENERAL  DIETARY  FOR  THE  ABLE-BODIED. 


BREAKFAST. 

DINNER. 

SUPPER. 

Bread. 

Cheese. 

Butter. 

Meat  Pud- 
ding with 
Vegetables.* 

iii 
ill 

Bread. 

Cheese. 

Bread. 

Cheese. 

Butter. 

a-"**      •    '     \wLen 

Monday      .           CMen     . 
Wednesday 
Thursday    .           )  Women 
Saturday     .           ^ 

Tuesday      .          $  Men     . 
Friday     .     .           \  Women 

02. 
6 

5 
6 

5 

6 
5 

02;. 
1 

1 
1 

OZ. 

1 

£ 
£ 

02. 

16 
10 

02. 

16 
10 

OZ. 

7 
7 

OZ. 

1 

1 

OZ. 
6 
5 

6 
5 

»     6 
5 

02. 
1 

1 
1 

02. 
ft 

1 
i 

Old  people,  being  all  60  years  of  age  and  upwards  :  —  The  weekly  addition  of  1  oz.  of  tea,  and 
milk  or  sugar  ;  also  an  additional  meat  pudding  dinner  on  Thursday  in  each  week,  in  lieu  of  bread 
and  cheese,  to  those  for  whose  age  and  infirmities  it  may  be  deemed  requisite. 
Children  under  9  years  of  age  :  —  Bread  and  milk  for  their  breakfast  and  supper,  or  gruel  when 
milk  cannot  be  obtained  ;  also  such  proportions  of  the  dinner  diet  as  may  be  requisite  for  their  re- 
spective ages. 
*  The  vegetables  are  extra,  and  not  included  in  the  weight  specified. 

238 


COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 


3.  DIETARY  FOR  ABLE-BODIED  PAUPERS. 


BREAKFAST. 

DINNER. 

SUPPER. 

Bread. 

Gruel. 

Cooked 
Meal. 

Potatoes 
or  c'.her 

^bfe*!1" 

Soup. 

Bread. 

Cheese. 

Bread. 

Cheese. 

OZ. 

pints. 

OZ. 

Ib. 

pints. 

OZ. 

OZ. 

OZ. 

OZ, 

Mond?            [Men     .... 

8 

li 

— 

— 

— 

7 

2 

6 

.    li 

Wednesday     |  r:rr 

•n   •  i                               1     \V  OITlCfl       .       . 

L<  rid  ay               ^ 

6 

li 

- 

— 

— 

6 

li 

5 

li 

Tuesday           [f^^    ',     \     ] 

8 
6 

li 

li 

8 
6 

* 







6 
5 

li 

li 

Thursday         {^^    |     ;     ' 

8 
6 

8 
6 

li 
li 

li 
li 

Bacon. 

5 
4 

1 

li 
li 

6 
5 

— 

6 
5 

6 
5 

li 

li 

li 
li 

Old  people  of  60  years  of  age  and  upwards  may  be  allowed  1  oz.  of  tea,  5  oz.  of  butter,  and  7 
oz.  of  sugar,  per  week,  in  lieu  of  gruel  for  breakfast,  if  deemed  expedient  to  make  this  change. 
Children  under  9  years  of  age  to  be  dieted  at  discretion  ;  above  9,  to  be  allowed  the  same 
quantities  as  women. 

4.  DIETARY  FOR  ABLE-BODIED  PAUPERS  OF  BOTH  SEXES. 


BREAKFAST. 

DINNER. 

i  KR. 

Pickled 
Pork  or 

Mr*t  Pu<|. 

Rice  or 

Bread. 

Gruel. 

Bacou 
wrh 

Soup. 

Bread. 

Bread. 

Cheese. 

vege'bla. 

"•  i  YejreuUlM. 

OZ. 

pints 

OZ. 

pints 

OZ. 

OS. 

OZ. 

OZ. 

OZ. 

Sunday          $  jV/m 

8 

li 



2 

•  6 

— 

6 

2 

Friday          f  Women    .     .    . 

6 

li 

— 

li 

5 

— 

5 

li 

Monday        (  I\Fen  *.     .     .     . 

8 

li 









12 

6 

2 

Thursday     \  Women    .     .     . 

6 

li 

— 

— 

— 

10 

5 

li 

Wednesday  |  ffi"mcn    '     '     ' 

8 
6 

li 
li 

6 
5 

— 



~ 

_ 

6 
5 

2 
li 

Saturday      j  ^y^men    '     '     ' 

8 
6 

li 
li 

— 

- 

— 

12 

10 

— 

6 
5 

2 

li 

The  vegetables  are  not  included  in  the  weight  specified,  which  is  for  the  meat  when  cooked 
If  it  be  thought  desirable,  i  an  ounce  of  butter  may  be  given  to  the  women,  in  lieu  of  cheese  for 

supper. 

Old  people  of  60  years  of  age  and  upwards  may  be  allowed  1  oz.  of  tea,  5  oz.  of  butter,  and 
7  oz.  of  sugar,  per  week,  in  lieu  of  gruel  for  breakfast,  if  deemed  expedient  to  make  this  change. 

Children  under  9  years  of  age  to  be  dieted  at  discretion:  above  9,  to  be  allowed  t  e  a\me 

quantities  a?  women. 

1 

DIETARIES  FOR  PAUPERS. 

239 

5.  DIETARY  FOR  ABLE-BODIED  MEN  AND  WOMEN. 

• 

BREAKFAST. 

DINNER. 

SUPPER. 

Bread. 

Gruel  or 
Porridg 

Cooked 
Meat. 

Vereta- 
bles. 

Soup 

Boiled 
(Rice  or 

Suet 

Bread 

Cheese 

Brea 

d. 

Potatoe 

a    Cheese. 

Pudding 

OZ. 

pints. 

OZ. 

* 

pts 

OZ. 

OZ. 

OZ. 

OZ. 

lb 

OZ. 

Sunday        5  Men    . 
Thursday     \  JVomen 

•    • 

7 
6 

li 

5 
5 

7 
6 

It 

Monday       <  Men    . 

7 

li 

_ 

H 



7 

_ 

_ 

2 

Friday          \  Women 

.    . 

6 

U 

— 

li 

- 

6 

— 

— 

$ 

_ 

Tuesday       s  VirM    ' 
J        (_  Women 

•    • 

7 
6 

H 
li 



- 

14 
12 



~ 

7 
6 

- 

Ik 

H 

Wednesday  5  Men    . 
Saturday      \  IVomen 

•    • 

7 
6 

H 

— 

- 

— 

7 
6 

3 
2 

— 

i 

- 

Old  people  of  60  years  of  age  and  upwards  may 
oz.  of  sugar,  per  week,  in  lieu  of  gruel  for  breakfast 

be  allowed  1  oz.  of  tea,  5  oz.  of  butter,  and  7 
,  if  deemed  expedient  to  make  this  change. 

Children  under  9  years  of  age  to  be  dieted  at  discretion  ;  above  9,  to  be  allowed  the  same  quan- 

tity as  women. 

4 

6. 

DIETARY  FOR  ABLE-BODIED  PAUPERS. 

BREAKFAST. 

DINNER. 

SUPPER. 

Bread. 

Cheese. 

Butter. 

Boiled 
Meat. 

Pota- 
toes. 

Yeast 
Dump* 

Suet 
Dump- 
ling. 

Bread. 

Cheese. 

Bread. 

Cheese.  B 

utter.  Broth 

OZ. 

OZ. 

OZ. 

OZ. 

oz. 

OZ. 

OZ. 

OZ. 

OZ. 

OZ. 

OZ. 

oz.    pts. 

S     c\             5  Men     . 

6 

1 

— 

— 

— 

16 

— 

_ 

6 

1 

_          _ 

I  Women 

5 

— 

ft 

— 

- 

12 

-. 

- 

5 

i           

Monday        C  Mm 

6 

1 





_ 

_  . 

6 

1 

6 

1 

_          _ 

Saturday*   c  Women 

5 

— 

i 

— 

— 

— 

6 

1 

5 

i           - 

Tuesday       $  Men     . 

6 

1 

_ 

4 

12 

6 

t 

_ 

_ 

6 

"I 

Thursday     (  Women 

5 

£ 

4 

12 

5 

.v 

- 

— 

- 

5 

- 

J 

5  Men 

6 

1 



_ 

_ 

11 





'  

fi 

1 



"  dy           <  Women 

5 

— 

i 

— 

— 

11 

— 

— 

— 

5 

J_                     

Old  people,  being  all  60  years  of  age  and  upwards  :  —  The  weekly  addition  of  1 
milk  or  sugar,  to  those,  for  whose  age  and  infirmities  it  may  be  deemed  requisite. 

oz.  of  tea,  and 

Children  under  9  years  of  age  :—  Bread  and  milk 
milk  cannot  be  obtained  ;  also'  such  prooortions  of 

for 
the 

their  breakfast  and  supper,  or  gruel  when 
dinner  diet  as  may  be  requisite  for  their 

respective  ages. 

[*  1  oz.  butter  ordered  on  Wednesdays  for  men.     Is  it  a  typographical  error  1J 

From  these  six  dietaries  each  Board  of  Guardians  of  the  Poor  is  required 

to  select  one 

most  suitable  to  the  circumstances  of  each  Union. 

It  will  be  perceived 

that  beer  is  not  permitted  unless  specially  ordered  by 

the 

surgeon, 

and  that  the  use  of  lea  is  confined  to  the  aged  and  infirm.     In  all  cases 

the  sick  to  be 

dieted  as  directed  by  +he  medical  officer. 

*  Besides  vegetables. 


179  ounces,  and  for  women  abo  it  152  ounces. 

Dietary  No.  1. 

No.  2. 

"       No.  3. 

"       No.  4. 

"       No.  5. 


POUND  ALIMENTS. 

)arative  view  of  these  dietaries  :  — 

DIETARY 
No.  2. 

DIETARY 
No.  3. 

DIETARY 
No.  4 

DIETARY 
No.  5. 

DIETARY 

No.  6 

• 

1 

Women.  1 
Children 
above  9.  | 

a 

V 

732 
8 
24 

181 
5 

s£* 
=^z 

m 

a 

V 

s 

Women. 
Children 
above  9. 

1 

Women. 
Children 

above  9. 

c 
5 

£g| 

112 

32* 
18 
16 

98 

20* 
4 
10 

7 

106 
6 
24 

16* 
4 

116 

24* 
14 
12 

6 

92 

20* 
10* 
10 

5 

98 
10 

48 

14 
Si 

84 
10 

48 

12 

8* 

102 
8 
24 

16 
15 

1 
22 

88 
8 
24 

12 
3 

6 
22 

- 

- 

- 

— 

— 

- 

24 

24 

178 

t 

139 

i 

1871 

101 
li 

1564 

10* 
1* 

172 

10* 
6 

t 

137* 

10* 
4* 

•» 

•2  >•_>! 

10* 
3 

186* 

101 
3 

188 

2 

163 
2 

,  and  are  not  included  in  the  weights  specified. 

solid  food 
L52  ounce 

.    1 
.    1 

.    1 
.    1 

.     2 

supplied  by  these  dietaries  is  for 

3. 

45    oz                                       129    oz 
78                                 .             139 
87*                               .             156* 
72                                 .             137* 
S02t                               .             1861 
88                                 .             163 

men  nearly 

.     1 

1073                                              91H 
.    1785-6                                       152  (about.) 

No.  6. 

Average 

Now  according  to  the  result  of  the  Commissioners  of  Inquiry,*  agricultural  laborers 
are  unable  to  procure  for  themselves  and  families  an  average  allowance  of  more  than  122 
oz.  of  solid  food  (principally  bread)  weekly ;  and  if  we  assume  that  the  man  consumes 
140  ounces  (say  134  bread  and  6  meat)  as  his  share,  it  is  evident  that  his  allowance 
would  not  be  equal  to  that  of  the  above  dietaries. 

The  dietary  marked  No.  2  is  that  of  twenty-six  Unions  of  the  county  of  Kent ;  and,  at 
a  meeting  of  the  chairmen  and  vice-chairmen  of  all  the  twelve  East  Kent  Unions,  it  was 
unanimously  declared  that  this  dietary  had  answered  well,  and  that  no  alteration  in  it 
was  desirable.f 

I  have  inquired  at  several  workhouses  the  composition  of  the  suet-pudding,  the  soup, 
and  the  gruel,  used  in  these  establishments.  Subjoined  are  some  of  the  answers  which 
I  have  received. 

1.  SOUP,  (in  use  at  the  Wapping  Workhouse.^) — Liquor  in  which  119  Ibs.  of  meat  have 

*  See  Mr.  Tuffnell's  report,  in  the  Second  Annual  Report  of  the  Poor  Law  Commissioner*. 
t  See  Mr.  Tuflhell's  report,  before  cited. 

J  For  the  above  and  some  of  the  subsequent  information  respecting  the  Wapping  Workhouse,  I  am 
indebted  to  Mrs.  Megson,  the  very  intelligent  matror  cf  that  establishment. 


DIETARIES  FOR  PAUPERS. 


241 


been  boiled,  Legs  and  Shins  of  Beef  42  Ibs.,  Residual  Cuttings  of  Meat  9£  Ibs,  Split-peas 
40  Ibs.,  Onions  and  Carrots  16  Ibs.,  Oatmeal  6  Ibs.,  Dripping  6  Ibs.,  Pepper  3  oz.,  Salt  1 
lb.,  and  Crumbs  of  Bread  5  Ibs.  This  quantity  is  for  240  females,  each  having  1  pint, 
(weighing  about  1$  lb.) 

A  pint  and  a  half  of  the  soup  prepared  at  the  poorhouse  of  St.  George's,  Middlesex, 
contains  6  ounces  of  meat  and  bone,  (equal  to  about  4£  ounces  solid  meat,)  l-7th  of  a  pint 
of  Peas,  l-3d  of  an  ounce  of  Groats,  l-120th  of  an  ounce  of  Pepper  l-15th  of  an  ounce 
of  Salt,  and  l-25th  of  a  pennyworth  of  Vegetables. 

2.  GRUEL,  (in  use  at  the  Wapping  Workhouse.) — Each  pint  of  gruel  contains  1^  oz.  of 
the  best  Berwick  Oatmeal. 

3.  SUET  PUDDINGS,  (in  use  at  the  Wapping  Workhouse.') — Flour  1  lb.,  Suet  i  lb.,  Water 
13  oz.     These  quantities  yield,  when  boiled,  full  2  Ibs.  of  pudding. 

Mr.  Gray,  of  the  Stepney  Union,  informs  me  that, — 


Ibs.                    Ibs.  Ibs.                                        Ibs.  oz.  Ibs.  oz 

10  Flour  with  2i  Suet  and  11  Water  lost  in  cooking  2      1   and  yielded     21  7 

10         "           2i  .   "           8                            "04  20  12 

10         "           2t  "            G                            "1    13  "            20  5 


pudding. 


So  that  by  making  the  puddings  over  stiff,  that  is,  with  6  oz.  of  water,  1  lb.  2  oz.  more 
were  lost  (equal  to  about  5£  per  cent.)  than  when  made  with  11  Ibs.  of  water." 

Mr.  Gray  has  also  furnished  me  with  the  following  curious  information  respecting  the 
loss  sustained  in  cooking  and  serving  in  pauper  establishments.* 

I 
A  Table  of  the  Consumption  of  Beef  and  Mutton  in  certain  Metropolitan  Workhouses,  snowing  the 

"  Number  of  Boilings,"  the  "  Average  Weight  of  each  Ration,"  and  the  "  Total  Loss"  sustained  in 

cooking  and  serving  the  same. 


Number  of  Workhouses, 
and   state  of  Cooking 
Apparatus. 

Period  of  time  over 
which    the    Con- 
sumption extends. 

Number  of 
boilinps. 

Average    weight 
of  each  Ration. 

Total  consump- 
tion of  beef  and 
mutton  (inclu- 
ding loss.) 

Total    Loss    or 
waste  in  cook- 
ing- and  serv- 
ing. 

Centesimal    pro- 
portion of  loss 
and  waste  to  to- 
tal consumpt'n. 

Ibs. 

Ibs. 

Ibj. 

1  good 

15  months 

195 

7    ounces 

38554 

12015 

31-16 

1  good 

15  months 

195 

7    ounces 

34134 

10523 

30-83 

1  very  good 

15  months 

195 

7    ounces 

34550 

10840 

3133 

1  good 

15  months 

195 

5    ounces 

24488 

7956 

32-48 

2  good 

3  months 

78 

7    ounces 

12689 

3909 

3081 

1  good 

3  months 

39 

5    ounces 

8238 

2504 

3039 

1  very  good 

3  months 

39 

5i  ounces 

7341 

2024 

27-57 

2  good 

3  months 

78 

7    ounces 

12181 

381  1 

31-28 

1  good 

3  months 

39 

5    ounces 

8384 

2371 

2697 

1  very  good 

3  months 

39 

5?  ounces 

6743 

1952 

289 

4  good 

3  months 

156 

5*  ounces 

24671 

7643 

3098 

4  good 

3  months 

156 

5£  ounces 

27883 

8214     .. 

2946 

1  very  good 

2  years. 

312 

6    ounces 

58134 

16672 

2868 

1716 

297990* 

90484 

3006 

The  Ox-Beef  was  without  bone,  and  consisted  of  Flanks,  Leg  of  Mutton  Pieces,  Clods,  and  Briskets. 
The  Mutton  consisted  of  the  Fore  Quarters,  weighing  above  40  Ibs. 

The  loss  sustained  in  preparing  and  serving  cooked  meat,  in  large  Public  Institutions,  is  very  great, 
and  may  appear  to  the  unpractised  observer  extraordinary  ;  but  there  are  so  many  sources  from  which 
loss  accrues,  that  the  surprise  would  be  soon  removed  by  an  attentive  consideration  of  the  subject. 

1st,  The  Cooking.— The  quality  of  the  meat  will  cause  a'difference  of  from  7  to  8  per  cent.  The 
want  of  skill,  inattention,  or  inadvertence,  on  the  part  of  the  Cook,  will  at  times  increase  the  loss  very 
greatly ;  for,  in  cooking  large  quantities,  great  and  undivided  attention  is  necessary  to  produce  the 
article  properly  cooked! 

2d,  The  Serving.— Great  dispatch  is  necessary  in  the  serving.  Two  persons,  one  to  cut,  the  other 
to  weigh,  will,  on  the  average,  nave  to  serve  14  rations  in  two  minutes.  So  much  to  be  done,  and,  from 
necessity,  in  so  short  a  period  of  time,  requires  some  skill,  and  not  a  little  practice,  on  the  part  of  Carver 
and  Weigher,  to  keep  within  a  moderate  loss.  The  following  are  among  the  principal  sources  of  loss : 

*  Appendix,  20. 


16 


242  COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 


the  bone  and  fat  of  mutton— the  outside  and  coarser  parts  of  the  beef— the  evaporation  and  the  running 
off  of  the  juices  during  carving.    To  these  must  be  added  the  drafts  in  weighing. 

The  annexed  Table  shows  the  Consumption  and  Amount  of  Loss  in  several  large  Establishments, 
and  I  am  of  opinion,  may  be  considered  as  something  more  than  an  approximation  to  the  truth. 
extends  over  a  sufficient  period  of  time  "  to  take  in  Meat  of  all  the  Seasons,"  It  was  cooked  in  differ- 
ent apparatus,  and  served  in  the  separate  houses  by  careful  and  intelligent  individuals.  The  quantity 
cooked,  and  the  rations  served  at  each  house,  was  sufficient  to  have  formed  a  good  average  ;  but  taken 
in  the  aggregate,  they  give  data  for  calculation  seldom  to  be  met  with. 

32  Boilings  of  Mutton.— The  parts  cooked  were  the  Fore  Quarters,  w^ghing  40  Ibs.  the  pair;  the 
contract  price  7s.  5d.  per  stone,  14  Ibs. 

Total  quantity  Cooked •  3209  Ibs. 


Loss  sustained  in  Boiling    . 

Centesimal  Proportion  of  Loss  to  whole  Quantity  Croked 

Maximum  Loss 

Minimum  Loss 


563  Ibs. 
17r>444lbs. 
19-7  Ibs. 
14-3  Ibs. 


64  Boilings  of  Beef.—  Parts:  Brisket,  thick  and  thin  Flanks,  Leg  of  Mutton  Pieces,  and  Clod?,  the 
whole  free  from  bone  ;  contract  price  7s.  Sd^per  stone,  14  Ibs. 

Total  Quantity  Cooked 5772  Ibs. 

Loss  sustained;  in  Boiling .         .  1018  lb?. 

Centesimal  Proportion  of  Loss  to  the  whole  Quantity  Cooked  637  Ibs 

Maximum  Loss  ..........      21  Ibs. 

Minimum  Loss 13  S  Ib.s. 

5.  DIETARIES  FOR  PRISONERS. 

I  have  already,  (see  p.  222,  el  seq.J  offered  some  remarks  on  the  peculiar  circumstances 
affecting  the  diet  of  persons  confined  in  prisons. 

In  January,  1843,  the  Inspectors  of  Prisons  made  a  Report  to  the  Secretary  of  Slate 
relative  to  the  system  of  Prison  Discipline,  &c.",  in  which  they  state  that,  with  respect  to 
Dietaries,  they  have  arrived  at  the  following  conclusions : — 

"L  We  have  framed  a  series  of  tables,  according  to  the  length  of  the  imprisonment, 
the  additional  punishment  of  hard  labor,  and  the  sex  of  the  prisoners;  and,  as  for 
as  practicable,  with  regard  also  to  the  kind  and  degree  of  discipline  enforced  other 
than  hard  labor. 

2.  These  dietaries  are  given  as  the  minimum  of  what  we  recommend  for  each 

without  reference  to  the  local  situations  of  the  prisons,  or  to  any  peculiar  circum- 
stances which  may  render  an   increase  necessary.     Such  peculiarities  ma 
render  it   expedient,  in   certain   cases,  to   substitute  other  kinds  of  food,  (of  an 
equivalent  amount  of  nutriment,)  for  some  of  those  included  in  the  scale  of  dirt. 

3.  The  principle  which  we  are  of  opinion  ought  to  be  acted  on  in  framing  a  scale  of 

prison  diet,  and  that  which  we  have  endeavored  to  carry  into  effect,  as  far  as  pos- 
sible, in  the  annexed  scale,  is,  that  that  quantity  of  food  should  be  given  in  all 
cases  which  is  sufficient,  and  not  more  than  sufficient,  to  maintain  health  and 
strength,  at  the  least  possible  cost ;  and  that  while  due  care  shojild  be  exercised 
to  prevent  extravagance  or  luxury  in  a  prison,  the  diet  ought. not  to  be  made  an 
instrument  of  punishment. 

4.  In  endeavoring  to  ascertain  the  precise  quantities  of  food  which  ought  to  be  allowed 

to  different  classes  of  prisoners,  in  accordance  with  the  foregoing  principle,  we  have 
been  guided  by  our  own  experience,  by  the  opinions  of  several  prison  medical  offi- 
cers of  long  standing,  and  by  the  dietaries  in  use. 

|j        5.  We  are  of  opinion  that  there  ought  always  to  be  three  meals  each  day  in  prisons, 
and  that  at  least  two  of  the  three  should  be  hot. 

6.  That  there  should  be  variety  in  the  kinds  of  food  forming  the  diet,  with  occasional 

changes  ;  and  that  a  considerable  portion  of  the  food  should  be  solid. 

7.  That  in  the  selection  of  the  kinds  of  food,  it  is  essential,  for  the  maintenance  of 

health,  to  include  substances  which  are  necessary  for  the  support  of  the  various 
f  parts  of  the  body. 
-   8.  That  it  is  very  important  to  ascertain  that  the  water  is  pure  and  wholesome,  and 

that  there  is  an  abundant  supply. 

I         9.  That  prisoners  should  not  be  set  to  work  immediately  after  any  meal. 
,,      10.  That  animal  food  is!j<,uM  form  part  of  the  diet  of  prisoners  employed  at  hard  labor. 


DIETARIES  FOR  PRISONERS.  243 

11.  That  the  attention  of  the  medical  officer  should  be  directed  to  the  scale  of  diet  on 

which  each  prisoner  is  placed,  and  that  he  should  have  a  discretionary  power  to 
increase  or  diminish  the  quantity  of  food  with  reference  to  the  constitution  and  state 
of  health  of  the  particular  prisoner. 

12.  That  with  regard  to  age,  it  is  only  in  the  extremes  of  youth  and  old  age  that  any 

distinction  of  diet  is  advisable,  and  that  the  discretion  of  the  medical  officer  shoiHd 
extend  to  these  cases." 

It  will  be  perceived  that  the  conclusions  which  the  Inspectors  have  arrived  at  accord  with 
the  principles  which  I  have  advocated  in  this  work.  The  scale  of  diet  which  they  recom- 
mend, and  .which  has  been  adopted  by  the  Secretary  of  State,  is  subjoined. 

It  appears,  however,  that  the  Inspectors  were  not  unanimous  as  to  the  dietaries  ;  and  it 
is  but  fair,  therefore,  that  the  reader  should  be  put  in  possession  of  the  following  Reasons 
of  Dissent  as  to  the  Scales  of  Diet  assigned  by  Mr.  F.  Hill,  one  of  the  Inspectors : — 

"  1.  There  is  at  present  a  great  want  of  information  on  the  subject  of  diet  generally, 
both  as  respects  the  real  quantity  of  nutriment  required  for  health  under  various 
circumstances,  and  the  best  form  in  which  that  nutriment  can  be  given,  as  regards 
bulk,  solidity,  quantity  of  animal  matter,  and  the  necessary  variety  to  supply  all  the 
wants  of  the  frame  for  renewing  bone,  muscle,  &c.  There  is  but  little  certain 
knowledge  also  respecting  the  comparative  quantity  of  nutriment  contained  in 
substances  of  different  kinds,  such  as  wheaten  bread,  meat,  and  potatoes. 

2.  Owing  to  the  many  circumstances  which  affect  the  natural  demand  for  food,  such 

as  age,  sex,  constitution,  state  of  health,  kind  and  quantity  of  work,  it  is  difficult, 
under  any  arrangement,  to  determine  what  quantity  of  food  any  prisoner  ought  to 
have;  and  it  is  impossible,  in  my  opinion,  to  classify  prisoners  for  this  purpose 
with  any  degree  of  accuracy  otherwise  than  by  considering  the  case  of  each  pris- 
oner separately,  which  may  be  done  by  laying  down  a  few  scales  of  diet,  and  then 
empowering  those  who  must  be  best  acquainted  with  the  case  of  each  prisoner, 
viz.  the  Governor  and  Surgeon,  to  settle  from  time  to  time,  subject  to  the  control  of 
the  visiting  justices,  on  what  scale  each  prisoner  shall  be  placed. 

If  a  classification  be  made  according  to  any  one  or  two  only  of  the  disturbing 
causes,  the  rate  of  diet,  if  suited  to  the  wants  of  a  portion  of  the  class,  will,  in  my 
opinion,  be  found  insufficient  for  some  and  too  much  for  others,  producing  injury 
to  health  in  both  cases,  and  in  one  waste  and  extravagance  also. 

3.  While  it  is  right  to  give  prisoners  such  a  quantity  of  food  as  will  keep   up  robust 

health,  it  is  important  to  allow  nothing  beyond  what  is  really  necessary  ;  both  be- 
cause excess  of  food  is  injurious  to  health  as  well  as  deficiency,  and  because  the 
motives  to  honest  industry  will  be  weakened  if  any  thing  like  luxury  be  admitted 
into  prisons. 

4.  It  having  been  declared  as  a  principle  that  the  allowance  of  food  ought  not  to  be 

made  an  instrument  of  punishment,  and  that  that  quantity  of  food  should  be  given 
which  is  sufficient,  and  not  more  than  sufficient,  to  maintain  health  and  strength, 
I  cannot  see  any  ground  for  giving  less  food  to  a  prisoner  who  is  employed  at  the 
same  kind  of  labor  as  another  prisoner,  and  otherwise  similarly  circumstanced 
with  him,  except  that  he  is  to  leave  the  prison  sooner,  unless,  as  has  been  alleged, 
the  expectation  of  a  long  imprisonment  has  a  depressing  effect  on  the  mind,  and 
that  effect  can  be  counteracted,  in  its  influence  on  the  health,  by  a  greater  quantity  of 
food.  Without  inquiring  into  the  accuracy  of  the  fact,  as  a  general  rule,  I  cannot 
agree  to  the  inference  from  it.  I  believe,  on  the  contrary,  that  a  depressed  state  ot 
the  mind  weakens  the  digestive  powers,  and  makes  them  incapable  of  receiving 
even  so  much  food  as  when  the  mind  is  cheerful." 

Sir  James  Graham,  Her  Majesty's  Secretary  of  State  for  the  Home  Department,  in  a 
letter  to  the  Chairman  of  Quarter  Sessions,  dated  27th  January,  1843,  adopts  the  recom- 
mendations of  the  Inspectors  with  regard  to  dietaries,  and  offers  the  following  \?ry  proper 
observations  : — 

"  I  desire  to  call  the  especial  attention  of  the  magistracy  to  those  rules  which 
relate  to  the  Diet  of  Prisoners.  On  the  proper  adjustment  of  this  particular  their 


244  COMPOUND  ALIMENTS, 


health  mainly  depends  ;  and  I  am  convinced  that  the  adoption  of  the  proposed 
scales  will  prevent  the  recurrence  of  those  complaints  which  have  frequently  been 
preferred,  and  in  some  instances  justly  preferred,  against  the  prison  authorities.  It 
is  by  no  means  intended  that  the  precise  articles  of  food  specified  in  the  dietaries 
should  be  strictly  adhered  to  in  the  table  which  you  may  adopt ;  other  kinds  of 
food,  containing  an  equivalent  amount  of  nutriment,  may,  with  advantage,  be  substi- 
tuted, when  those  articles  which  have  been  named  are  either  difficult  to  be  obtained 
in  your  neighborhood,  or  are  considered  not  suited  to  the  customs  and  habits  of 
the  prisoners  ;  but  that  quantity  of  food  must,  in  all  cases,  be  given  which  ig  suffi- 
cient, though  not  more  than  sufficient,  to  maintain  health  and  strength  at  a  mode- 
rate cost ;  and,  while  due  care  should  be  exercised  to  prevent  any  approach  to 
luxurious  living  in  a  prison,  the  diet  ought  on  no  account  to  be  made  'an  instru- 
ment of  punishment.  I  have  consulted  not  only  the  Prison  Inspectors,  but  medi- 
cal men  of  the  greatest  eminence,  possessing  the  advantage  of  long  experience  ;  I 
have  carefully  revised  the  dietaries  now  in  use ;  and  I  have  come  to  the  conclusion — 
Istly,  That  animal  food  should  in  all  cases  form  part  of  the  diet  of  prisoners 

employed  at  hard  labor. 
2dly,  That  a  considerable  portion  of  the  food  of  every  prisoner  should  be 

solid  ;  and, 

3dly,  That  there  should  be  variety  in  the  kinds  of  food  forming  the  diet,  and 
,  that  occasional  changes  are  necessary. 

The  dietaries  which  I  now  offer  for  your  adoption  are  framed  on  these  principles, 
and  are  upheld  by  medical  science,  and  by  the  recommendation  of  persons  on  whose 
authority  and  knowledge  reliance  may  be  placed,  but  they  hare  been  framed  without 
reference  to  the  local  situations  of  particular  prisons,or  to  any  peculiar  circumstances 
which  may  render  an  increase  necessary  ;  they  are  therefore  proposed  as  the  mini- 
mum amount  which  can  safely  be  afforded  to  prisoners  without  the  risk  of  inflicting 
a  punishment  not  contemplated  by  law,  and  which  it  is  unjust  and  cruel  to  inflict, 
namely,  loss  of  health  and  strength  through  the  inadequacy  of  the  food  supplied." 

DIETARIES  FOR  PRISONS  IN  ENGLAND  AND  WALES, 

Recommended  by  the  Prison  Inspectors,  and  ordered  by  her  Majesty's  Secretary  of  State  for  the  Home 

Department. 


CLASS  I. 
Prisoners  confined  for  any  term  not  exceeding  three  days : — 

Males.  Females. 

Breakfast    .     .  1  pint  of  Oatmeal  gruel    ....  1  pint  of  Oatmeal  gruel. 

Dinner   .     .     .  1  ft.  of  Bread .  1  Ib.  of  Bread. 

Supper    ...  1  pint  of  Oatmeal  gruel    ....  1  pint  of  Oatmeal  gruel. 

CLASS  II. 

Convicted  prisoners  for  any  term  exceeding  three  days,  and  not  exceeding  fourteen  days  :— 

Males.  Females. 

Breakfast  $    1  Pint  of  Oatmeal  gruel;  6  oz.  of  >  1  pint  of  Oatmeal  gruel;   6  ox.  of 

'    (         Bread {          Bread. 

Dinner     .    .         .12  oz.  of  Bread         .        .        .        .      6  oz.  of  Bread. 

Surmer  $    1  Pint  of  Oatme«l  gruel?  6  oz.  of >  1  pint  of  Oatmeal  gruel;   6  oz.  of 

'    I         Bread $         Bread. 

Prisoners  of  this  class,  employed  at  hard  labor,  to  have,  in  addition,  1  pint  of  Soup  per  week. 

CLASS  III. 
Prisoners  employed  at  hard  labor  for  terms  exceeding  fourteen  days,  but  not  more  than  six 

.  Males.  Females. 

Breakfast.— I  pint  of  Oatmeal  gruel ;  )  1  pint  of  Oatmeal  gruel ;   6  oz.  of 

8  oz.  of  Bread  .    f         Bread. 

Sunday  and  4  Dinner.— 1  pint  of  Soup;    8  oz.  of  >  ,     .  .    fc 

Thursday     .     .     .    \         Bread         .        .  .  £  1  pint  of  Soup ;  6  oz.  of  Bread. 

Tuesday  and  <  3  oz.  of  cooked  Meat,  without  bone;  J  3  oz.  of  cooked  Meat  without  bone  ; 

rday       •     •    •    (         8  oz.  of  Bread  ;  i  Ib.  of  Potatoes,  $         6  oz.  of  Bread  ;  I  Ib.  of  Potatoes. 
Monday  t  8  oz.  of  Bread ;  1  Ib.  of  Potatoes,  or  )  6  oz.  of  Bread  ;  1  Ib.  of  Potatoes,  or 

Wednesday,  and  1  pint  of  Gruel,  when  Potatoes  [          1  pint  of  Gruel  when  Potatoes 

lday      .     .    .    .   (         cannot  be  obtained   .        .        .    )         cannot  be  obtained 
Supper.— Same  as  breakfast    .  Same  as  breakfast. 


DIETARIES  FOR  PRISONERS. 


245 


CLASS  IV. 

Prisoners  employed  at  ^ard  labor  for  terms  exceeding  six  weeks,  but  not  more  than  three 
months  : — 

Males.  Females. 

Breakfast. — 1  pint  of  Oatmeal  gruel ;  >  1  pint  of  Oatmeal  gruel ;    6  oz.  of 
8  oz.  of  Bread    ....    5         Bread. 

f  Dinner. — 3  oz.  of  cooked  Meat,  with- 
•2          out  bone  ;  5  Ib.  of  Potatoes  :  8  oz. 
of  Bread    . 


Sunday, 

Tuesday, 

Thursday, 

Saturday,      .     .. 
Monday, 
Wednesday,  and 
Friday      .     .     . 


3  oz.  of  cooked  Meat,  without  bone  ; 
i  Ib.  of  Potatoes  ;  6  oz.  of  Bread. 


1  pint,  of  Soup  ;  8  oz.  of  Bread 

Xu;>/wr. — Same  as  breakfast     . 


1  pint  of  Soup ;  6  oz.  of  Bread. 
Same  as  breakfast. 


CLASS  V, 

Prisoners  employed  at  hard  labor  for  terms  exceeding  three  months  : — 

Males.  Females. 

Breakfast, — 1  pint  of  Oatmeal  gruel ;  )  1  pint  of  Oatmeal  gruel  ;    6  oz.  of 

6  oz.  of  Bread    .         .        .        .    \         Bread, 
Dinner.—  4  oz.  of  cooked  Meat,  with- 


Sunday, 
Tuesday, 
Thursday, 
Saturday 


3  oz.  of  cooked  Meat,  without  bone  ; 


Monday, 
Wednesday. 
Friday,     .     . 


s  Ib.  of  Potatoes  ;  6  oz.  of  Bread. 

pint  of  Cocoa,  made  of  $  oz.  of 
flaked  cocoa  or  cocoa-nibs,  sweet- 
ened with  I  oz.  of  molasses  or 
sugar ;  6  oz.  of  Bread. 

pint  of  Soup  ;  i  Ib.  of  Potatoes  ;  6 

oz.  of  Bread. 

1  pint  of  Oatmeal  gruel ;  6  oz.  of 
Bread. 


[  Dinner. — 3  oz.  of  cooked  Meat,  with-  ) 

•{          out  bone  ;  i  Ib.  of  Potatoes  ;  8  oz.  > 

of  Bread ) 

}  1  pint  of  Soup ;  8  oz.  of  Bread 


r        ,     ,  ,» 

°f  cooked  Meat,  without  bone  ; 
£  Ib.  Potatoes ;  6  oz.  of  Bread. 


1  pint  of  Soup  ;  6  oz.  of  Bread. 
Same  as  breakfast. 


out  bone  ;  1  Ib.  of  Potatoes ;  6  oz. 

of  Bread     .         .         .  '    . 

Breakfast. — 1  pint  of  Cocoa,  made  oH 

I  oz.  of  flaked  cocoa  or  cocoa-  ) 

nibs,  sweetened  with  I  oz.  of  mo-  j 

lasses  or  sugar ;  6  oz.  of  Bread,  J 
Dinner.— I  pint  of  Soup  ;  1  Ib.  of  Po-  ; 

tatoes  ;  6  oz.  of  Bread       .        .    \ 
S&pper,  the   seven  days. — 1  pint  of 

Oatmeal  gruel ;  6  oz.  of  Bread, 

CLASS  VI. 
Convicted  prisoners  not  employed  at  hard  labor  for  periods  exceeding  fourteen  days  : — 

Males.  Females. 

Breakfast. —  1  pint  of  Oatmeal  gruel;  )  I  pint  of  Oatmeal  gruel ;    6  oz.  of 

8  oz.  of  Bread  .    \         Bread. 

Sunday, 
Tuesday, 
Thursday, 
Saturday 
Monday, 
Wednesday, 
Friday      .    . 

Supper. — Same  as  breakfast 

CLASS  VIL 

Prisoners  sentenced  by  Court  to  solitary  confinement : — 

Males.  Females. 

The  same  as  Class  VI.  .         The  same  as  Class  VI. 

CLASS  VIII. 

Prisoners  for  examination,  before  trial,  and  misdemeanants  of  the  first  division,  who  do  not  main- 
tain themselves : — 

Males.  Females. 

The  same  as  Class  IV.  The  same  as  Class  IV. 

CLASS  IX. 

DESTITUTE  DEBTORS. 

Males.  Females. 

The  same  as  Class  IV.  The  same  as  Class  IV. 

CLASS  X. 

Prisoners  under  punishment  for  prison  offences  for  terms  not  exceeding  three  days  • — 
1  Ib.  of  Bread  per  diem. 

Prisoners  in  close  confinement  for  prison  offences  under  the  provisions  of  the  42d  section  of  the 
Jail  Act  :— 

Males.  Females. 

Breakfast    .     .  1  pint  of  Gruel ;  8  oz.  of  Bread  .     .  1  pint  of  (Jruel ;  6  oz.  of  Bread. 

Dinner    ...  8  oz.  of  Bread 6  oz.  of  Bread. 

Supper    .     .     .  1  pint  of  Gruel ;  8  oz.  of  Bread  .     .   1  pint  of  Gruel ;  6  oz.  of  Bread. 

NOTE. — The  Soup  to  contain,  per  pint,  3  oz.  of  cooked  meat,  without  bone,  3  oz.  of  potatoes,  1 
oz.  of  barley,  rice,  or  oatmeal,  and  1  oz.  of  onions  or  leeks,  with  pepper  and  salt.  The  Gruel,  when 
made  in  quantities  exceeding  50  pints,  to  contain  H  oz.  of  oatmeal  per  pint,  and  2  oz.  per  pint  when 
made  in  less  quantities.  The  Gruel  on  alternate  days  to  be  sweetened  with  f  oz.  of  molasses  or 
sugar,  and  seasoned  with  salt. 


246                                              COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 

—  1 

( 

i 

The  following  table  gives  a  comparative  view  of  the  weekly  quantity  of  food  allowed  to 
arisoners  confined  for  terms  exceeding  three  days  :  — 

CLASS  2. 

CLASS  3. 

CLASS  4. 
CLASS  8. 
CLASS  9. 

CLASS  5. 

CLASS  6. 
CLASS  7. 

Bread    ....  02. 
Cooked  meat,  oz. 
Potatoes  ...  02. 

.Men. 
168 
0 
0 

Women. 
126 
0 
0 

Men. 
168 
6 
64 

Women. 
126 
6 
64 

Men. 
163 
12 
32 

Women. 
126 
12 
32 

Men. 
126 
16 
112 

Women. 
126 
12 
56 

Men. 
168 
12 
32 

Women. 
126 
12 

32 

Total  solid  food 

168 

126 

238 

196 

212 

170 

254 

194 

212 

170 

Gruel   .  .  .  pints 
Soup    .  .  .  pints 
Cocoa  .  .  .  pints 

14 
0 
0 

14 
0 
0 

14 
2 
0 

14 

2 
0 

14 
3 
0 

14 
3 
0 

11 
3 
3 

11 
3 
3 

14 
3 
0 

14 
3 
0 

These  dietaries  appear  to  me  well  calculated  to  carry  into  effect  the  principles  laid  down 
by  the  Prison  Inspectors,  that  the  quantity  of  food  supplied  to  prisoners  should  in  all 
cases  be  sufficient,  and  not  more  than  sufficient,  to  maintain  health  and  strength. 

They  have,  however,  been  objected  to,  on  the  ground  that  the  amount  of  food  which 
they  supply  is  greater  than  the  hard-working,  sober,  and  honest  laborer  can  in  general 
obtain  for  himself  and  family ;  and,  therefore,  that  they  hold  out  rather  a  temptation  than  a 
discouragement  to  crime.  Should  such  be  their  effect,  it  is  greatly  to  be  regretted  ;  but  it 
cannot  form  a  valid  ground  for  altering  them.  For  the  question  is,  not  what  the  honest 
laborer  can  obtain,  but  what  is  necessary  for  the  prisoner  ;  and  under  this  point  of  view 
it  appears  to  me  that  there  exists  no  just  ground  of  objection  to  these  rates  of  diet 
The  dietary  for  the  fifth  class,  wh'.'h  has  been  especially  objected'to,  as  being  indulgent  if 
not  luxurious,  allows  an  ample,  but  by  no  means  an  excessive,  amount  of  food,  when  we 
take  into  consideration  the  hard  labor  to  which  the  prisoners  of  this  class  are  subjected, 
as  well  as  their  term  of  imprisonment,  (see  p.  224,  et  seq.)* 

6.  DIETARIES  FOR  THE  SICK. 

In  the  treatment  of  many  diseases,  attention  to  diet  is  a  point  of  considerable  impor- 
tance ;  and  in  none  is  it  more  necessary  than  in  non-febrile  disorders  of  the  digestive  and 
urinary  organs.  For  in  acute  maladies,  in  which  abstinence  or  low  diet  is  requisite,  there 
is  usually  no  disposition  to  take  food :  on  the  contrary,  solids  of  all  kinds  are  generally 
loathed  ;  and  in  such  cases,  therefore,  there  is  little  or  no  chance  of  any  error  of  diet  being 
committed.  Dietetical  regimen  is  more  important  in  chronic  diseases  of  the  assimilating 
organs,  in  which  the  appetite  is  unimpaired,  or  even  increased, — since  in  such  the  patient 
is  more  apt  to  overstep  the  bounds  of  prudence  by  the  employment  of  a  diet  improper, 
either  from  the  quantity  or  quality  of  the  food  used.  In  chronic  local  diseases,  when  the 
constitution  is  unimpaired,  and  the  appetite  for  foo'd  remains  natural,  I  would,  by  no 
means,  advocate  the  adoption  of  a  spare  or  low  diet ;  since  I  believe  that  in  such  cases 
the  indulgence  of  a  moderate  appetite  for  plain  food  is  attended  with  beneficial  results. 
From  this  statement,  however,  maladies  affecting  the  organs  of  assimilation  must  be  fre- 
quently excepted.  "Natural  instincts,"  justly  observes  Dr.  Billing,*  "are  too  often 
thwarted :  it  is  much  too  common  to  put  patients  e  npirically  on  low  diet ;  and  patients 
of  the  higher  classes— the  better  educated— very  often  put  themselves  on  low  diet  un- 
necessarily. So  far  as  we  may  take  natural  instinct  for  a  guide,"  he  further  obs- 


Appendix,  21. 


t  First  Principles  of  Medicine. 


DIETARIES  FOR  THE  SICK.  247 


"  we  may  assert,  that  when  a  patient  can  eat,  he  may  be  allowed  to  do  so  ;  for  if  ;ie  has 
even  a  slight  degree  of  fever,  he  cannot  eat." 

Several  diets,  or  kinds  of  dietetical  regimen,  are  employed  in  the  treatment  of  diseases. 
The  most  important  of  these  are  the  following  : — 

1.  FULL,  COMMON,  OR  MEAT  DIET. — On  many  occasions  where  it  is  desirable  to  restore 
or  support  the  powers  of  the  system,  patients  are  permitted  to  satisfy  their  appetite  for 
plain  vegetable  and  animal  food.     In  many  indolent  diseases,  in  scrofula,  in  some  affec- 
tions of  the  nervous  system,  (as  chorea  and  eprepsy,)  and  in  the  stage  of  convalescence 
after  acute  maladies,  &c.,  this  kind  of  diet  is  frequently  directed.     In   these  cases  beer 
and,  sometimes,  wine  are  permitted ;  and  spirit  is  occasionally  required.     In  some  dis- 
eases of,  and  in  accidents  occurring  in,  confirmed  drunkards,  it  is  frequently  found  inju- 
rious to  withhold  the  stimulus  to  which  the  patient's  system  has  been  long  accustomed  ; 
and  thus  wine,  brandy,  rum,  or  gin,  is  ordered,  according  to  circumstances. 

2.  ANIMAL  DIET. — This^term  is  applied  to  a  diet  composed  of  animal  food,  either  ex- 
clusively or  principally.     The  only  disease,  in  which  a  diet  exclusively  of  animal  food  is ' 
recommended,  is  diabetes.     In  this  malady,  strict  abstinence  from  vegetable  substances  is 
attended  with  the  diminution  of  both   the  quantity,  and  the  saccharine  condition,  of  the 
urine.     But  it  deserves  especial  notice  that  the  amount,  as  well  as  the  nature,  of  the  food 
taken  in  this  disease,  requires  carefully  attending  to,  as  the  craving  for  food  is  sometimes 
apt  to  induce  the  patient  to  indulge  to  an  injurious  extent. 

A  considerable  variety  of  food  is  necessary  for  patients  limited  to  the  exclusive  use  of 
animal  diet,  on  account  of  the  loathing  of  the  same  substance  if  frequently  repeated. 
Butcher's  meat,  bacon,  poultry,  game,  fish,  shell-fish,  cheese,  eggs,  sausages,  and  brawn,  are 
allowed  in  private  practice.  For  common  drink,  water,  beef-tea,  or  mutton  broth,  may  be 
sparingly  used.  Milk  is  generally  permitted,  but  as  it  contains  sugar,  its  use  is  not  unob- 
jectionable. 

By  the  use  of  animal  food  exclusively,  the  quantity  of  sugar  in  the  urine  of  diabetic  pa- 
tients is  greatly  reduced ;  but  I  have  never  seen  this  secretion  entirely  lose  its  saccha- 
rine condition  by  even  the  most  rigorous  adoption  of  animal  diet.  In  one  case,  recently 
under  my  care  in  the  London  Hospital,  the  quantity  of  urine  passed  in  twenty-four  hours 
was  reduced  from  about  eleven,  to  three  or  four  pints  in  the  twenty-four  hours ;  but  its 
specific  gravity  (1040  to  1045)  and  saccharine  quality  remained  unaltered.  From  whence, 
it  may  be  asked,  in  such  cases,  is  the  sugar  derived  ]  Where  the  use  of  milk  is  permitted, 
this  perhaps  is  in  part  the  source  of  it.  I  have,  however,  found  it,  where  neither  milk  nor 
vegetable  food  was  employed  ;  and  in  such  cases  the  substances  which  were  used  as 
food,  and  from  which  sweet  or  saccharine  matter  is  known  to  be  obtainable,  were  gelatine 
and  oil  or  fat.  But  neither  the  sugar  of  gelatine  (glycicoll)  nor  the  sweet  principle  of  oils 
and  fats  (glycerine)  is  identical  with  the  diabetic  sugar,  (glucose;)  arid  we  are  unacquainted 
with  any  means  of  converting  the  two  former  into  the  latter  substance. 

Patients,  we  are  told,  sometimes  evince  such  an  inordinate  craving  for  vegetable  food, 
that  it  is  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  pei&evere  for  any  considerable  length  of  time  on 
an  exclusively  animal  diet.  In  the  cases  which  have  fallen  under  my  observation  this 
has  not  been  the  case.  I  have  several  times  met  with  patients  who  have  objected  to 
persevere  with  this  diet,  not  on  the  above  ground,  but  simply  beca  ee  they  became  satis- 
fied of  its  ineffico.cy ;  the  diminution  in  the  quantity  of  urine  not  being  attei.ded  with  a 
corresponding  relief  of  the  constitutional  symptoms. 

In  those  diabetic  cases  in  which  it  is  thought  advisable  to  permit  a  limited  quantity  of 
vegetable  food,  in  conjunction  with  animal  diet,  those  vegetables  should  be  selected  which 
are  most  highly  ru'trogenized,  and  which  are  freest  fioni  sugar  or  substances  capable  of 


Hi 

248  COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 

being  converted  int )  saccharine  matter,  as  the  starchy  bodies.  These  conditions  are 
best  fulfilled  by  the  cruciferous  plants, — as  cabbage,  greens,  cauliflower,  broccoli,  watercress, 
and  mustard  and  cress.  Sauerkraut,  or  fermented  cabbage,  (see  p.  184,)  is  sometimes  per- 
mitted. The  aromatic  condiments  (as  sage,  mint,  marjoram,  fennel,  parsley,  caraway,  cin- 
namon, nutmegs,  allspice,  pepper,  mustard,  &c.)  are,  of  course,  unobjectionable,  as  far  as 
sugar  is  concerned.  Fruits,  especially  apples  and  pears,  are  highly  objectionable,  on  ac- 
count of  the  saccharine  and  amylaceous  matters  which  they  usually  contain.  For  drink, 
Dr.  Prout  recommends  sound  porter  in  Deference  to  wine  or  spirits. 

Some  practitioners,  among  whom  Dr.Trout  deserves  to  be  especially  mentioned,  object 
to  the  exclusive  use  of  animal  food  in  diabetes ;  "  but  consider  a  certain  proportion  of 
farinaceous  matters  proper.  The  recommendation  of  th|?  admixture  of  farinaceous  mat- 
ters is  founded  upon  a  fact  already  alluded  to,  and  apparently  well  established,  viz.  that 
the  assimilation  of  the  saccharine  principle  is  one  of  the  last  functions  that  becomes  ex- 
tinct in  animals.  The  proportions  of  these  two  forms  of  aliment  must  be  varie'd  accord- 
ing to  the  circumstances  of  the  patient ;  and  particularly  according  to  the  degree  in  which 
he  is  able  to  assimilate  albuminous,  in  preference  to  farinaceous,  matters ;  a  point  not 
difficult  to  be  determined  by  a  little  attention.  Of  farinaceous  matters,  the  high  or  strong, 
as  the  farina  of  wheat  in  the  shape  of  bread,  &c.,  seem  to  be  most  easily  assimilated. 
The  low  kinds  of  farinaceous  matters,  as  arrow-root,  potatoes,  &c.,  (with  the  exception 
perhaps  of  rice,)  seem  to  be  reduced  to  a  species  of  sugar,  more  difficult  of  assimilation 
than  the  sugar  from  wheat-flour,  &c.,  and  in  general,  therefore,  should  be  avoided."* 

Gluten  is  a  nutritious  vegetable  principle,  to  the  employment  of  which  in  diabet- 
objection  can  be  raised ;  and  I  have  already  (see  p.  150)  had  occasion  to  notice  gluten 
bread,  which  has  been  made  for  the  use  of  diabetic  patients. 

3.  VEGETABLE  DIET. — The  exclusive  employment  of  vegetable  food,  in  conjunction 
with  the  use  of  distilled  water,  has  been  recommended,  by  Dr.  Lamb^f  as  a  remedy  for 
cancer,  scrofula,  consumption,  asthma,  and  other  chronic  diseases ;  but  he  has,  I  suspect, 
gained  few,  if  any,  proselytes  to  his  opinions  and  practice. 

4.  SPARE  OR  ABSTEMIOUS  DIET. — The  term  spare  or  abstentions  diet  is  sometimes  used  to 
indicate  the  employment  of  vegetable  substances  principally,  (not  exclusively.)     It  gen- 
erally includes  the  use  of  the  white-fish,  (the  flesh  of  which  is  less  nourishing  and  stim- 
ulating than  butchers'  meat,  see  p.  134,)  sometimes  alternating  with  a  limited  quantity  of 
poultry  or  butchers'  meat.     In  plethoric  habits,  where  the  appetite  is  unimpaired,  this 
diet  is  ordered  in  cases  of  threatened  apoplexy,  gout,  &c.     By  its  adoption   we  diminish 
the  quantity  of  nutritive  matter  supplied  to  the  system,  while  we  keep  the  digestive  organs 
actively  employed. 

5.  FEVER  DIET,  (Thin  Diet;   Spoon  Diet;  Slops.')— "  In  febrile  diathesis,"  says  Dr. 
Beaumont,*  "very  little  or  no  gastric  juice  is  secreted.     Hence  the  importance  of  with- 
holding food  from  the  stomach  in  febrile  complaints.     It  can  afford  no  nourishment,  but 
is  actually  a  source  of  irritation  to  that  organ ;  and,  consequently  to  the  whole  system." 
In  another  placef  the  same  author  observes,  "that  drinks  received  are  immediately  ab- 
sorbed, or  otherwise  disposed  of,  none  remaining  in  the  stomach  ten  minutes  after  being 
swallowed      Food  taken  in  this  condition  of  the  stomach  remains  undigested  for  twenty- 

*  Oi,  the  Nature  and  Treatment  of  Stomach  and  Unnary  Diseases,  p.  41.     London,  1840. 

t  Reports  of  the  Effects  of  a  Peculiar  Regimen  on  Scirrhous  Tumours  and  Cancerous  Ulcers.  Lond. 
1809.  Additional  Reports  on  the  Effects  of  a  Peculiar  Regimen  in  cases  of  Cancer.  Scrofula,  Consumption, 
Asthmi,  and  other  Chronic  Diseases.  Lond.  1815. 

t  Experiments  and  Observations  on  the  Gastric  Juice,  &c.,  p.  132.  §  Op.  supra  cit.  p.  99. 


DIETARIES  FOR  THE  SICK.  249 

four  or  fo.ty-eight  hours,  or  more,  increasing  the  derangement  of  the  whole  alimentary 
canal,  and  aggravating  the  general  symptoms  of  disease." 

These  observations  suggest  the  appropriate  diet  for  febrile  states  of  the  system.  Foods 
which  require  digestion  are  to  be  withheld  :  indeed,  they  are  generally  loathed, — want  oi 
appetite  being  one  of  the  early  symptoms  of  fever.  Aqueous  drinks,  (commonly  called 
diluents  or  slops,)  however,  are  rapidly  absorbed  without  undergoing  digestion.  Tea, 
toast- wrater,  and  barley-water,  therefore,  may  be  taken  ad  libitum.  Of  the  foods  which 
are  most  admissible  when  the  patient  feels  capable  of  taking  them,  the  saccharine  and 
the  amylaceous  are  the  lightest  and  most  appropriate.  Acidulous  fruits  and  drinks  some- 
times prove  most  refreshing.  Saccharine  substances  are  absorbed  and  pass  into  the 
chyle,  and  subsequently  support  the  process  of  respiration,  while  amylaceous  substances 
yield  sugar  in  the  stomach  independently  of  the  gastric  juice,  and  probably  by  the  aid  of 
the  saliva  merely,  (see  p.  62.) 

6.  Low  DIET. — In  acute  inflammation  of  important  organs,  and  after  serious  accidents, 
surgical  operations,  and  parturition,  patients  in  general  are  directed  to  adopt  a  low  diet, 
consisting  principally  of  liquid  foods,  as  gruel,  broth,  milk,  tea,  and  barley-water,  and  a 
moderate  allowance  of  bread  or  biscuit,  and  light  farinaceous  puddings.     The  effect  of 
low  diet  on  the  blood  is  similar  to  that  of  loss  of  blood  ;  namely,  a  diminution  of  the 
number  of  the  blood  disks.* 

7.  MILK  DIET. — Besides  cow's  milk,  which  constitutes  the  principal  article  of  food,  this 
diet  includes  the  use  of  farinaceous  substances,  (such  as  arrow-root,  sago,  and  tapioca,) 
bread,  and  light  puddings,  (of  rice,  bread,  or  batter.)  Milk  is  ordered  when  we  are  desirous  of 
affording  support  to  the  system  with  the  least  possible  stimulus  or  excitement.     It  is  well 
adapted  for  inflammatory  diseases  of  the  chest,  (phthisis  especially,)  of  the  alimentary 
canal,  and  of  the  bladder,  when  it  is  considered  expedient  to  employ  a  nutritious  but  not 
stimulating  diet.    After  hemorrhages,  when  the  powers  of  the  system  have^been  greatly 
exhausted,  a  milk  diet  is  frequently  beneficial.    It  has  also  been  considered  one  of  the 
best  means  of  preventing  and  of  curing  the  gout.     It  is  a  good  diet  also  for  many  of  the 
diseases  of  children,  especially  those  of  a  strumous  or  scrofulous  nature.     In  some  of 
the  above-mentioned  maladies,  where  the   stomach  is  weak  and  irritable,  cow's  milk  is 
apt  to  occasion  vomiting  and  other  unpleasant  effects,  in  consequence  of  the  butter  which 
it  contains.    In  such  cases,  skim-milk  or  ass's  milk  may  be^advantageously  substituted. 

8.  DRY  DIET. — In  several  maladies  it  becomes  necessary  to  restrict  the  quantity  of 
liquids  used:  as  in  valvular  disease  of  the  heart,  aortic  aneurism,  diabetes,  and  diuresis 
with  either  excess  or  deficiency  of  urea.     The  first  of  these  diseases  is  incu-rable,  and, 
therefore,  our  object  is  its  palliation.     One  mode  of  attempting  this  is,  to  relieve  the  ob- 
structed circulation  by  lessening  the  volume  of  blood  ;  and  which  may  be  in  some  degree 
effected  by  limiting  the  amount  of  drink.     In  aneurism  of  the  aorta  we  endeavor  to  lessen 
the  tension  of,  and  to  promote  the  deposition  of  fibrine  within,  the  sac.     The  indications 
are  in  part  fulfilled  by  a  dry  diet,  by  which  fulness  of  vessels  and  thinness  of  the   blood 
are  lessened.     In  diabetes-,  and  also  in  diuresis,  with  either  excess  or  deficiency  of  urea, 
a  most  important  part  of  the  treatment  is  to  diminish,  as  much  as  possible,  the  quantity 
of  fluids  taken. 

I  have  said  nothing  of  the  nature  of  the  solid  food  which  is  used  by  those  who  adopt  a 
dry  diet ;  because  it  is  subject  to  considerable  variation.  In  some  cases  a  generous,  in 
others  a  spare,  diet  should  accompany  it. 

*  See  Andral  and  Gavarret's  Recherches  sur  les  Modifications  de  Proportion  de  quelques  Principes  du 
Sang.  Paris,  1842. 


250 


COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 


Subjoined  are  the  diet-tables  of  the  Metropolitan  Hospitals  for  .  he  Sick,*  of  Ue  Royal 
Ordnance  Hospitals,  and  of  the  Royal  Navy  Hospitals  and  Marine  Infirmaries:— 


1.  LONDON  HOSPITAL. 


COMMON  DIET. 

MIDDLE  DIET. 

LOW  DIET. 

MILK    DIET. 

Per  Day  .  .  .  .    j 

Breakfast 

12  oz.  Bread. 
1  pint  Porter,  Men. 
5  pint  do.  Women. 
Gruel 

8  oz.  Bread. 
Gruel. 

12  oz.  Bread. 
Gruel. 

Dinner  • 

8    oz.    Beef,    with 
Potatoes,  thrice,  a 
week. 
8  oz.  Mutton,  with 
Potatoes,  twice   a 
week. 
8  oz.  Potatoes,  and 
Soup,  with  Vege- 
tables,    twice     a 
week. 
1  pint  of  Broth. 

The  same,  except 
that  4oz.  of  Meat 
shall  be  given  in- 
stead of  8  oz. 

Broth. 
Gruel  or  Broth. 

1  pint  Milk. 
1  pint  Milk 

2.  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW'S  HOSPITAL. 


COMMON  DIET. 

BROTH  DIET. 

THIN     OR     FEVER 
DIET. 

.MILK    IUKT. 

* 
Daily 

Milk  Porridge. 
12  oz.  Bread. 
6  oz.  Mutt"  or  Beef 
1   pt.   Broth   [with 
Peas  or  Potatoes, 

Milk  Porridge. 
12  o/.  Bread. 

Milk  Porridge. 
12  oz.  Bread. 

1  pint  of  Milk,  with 
Tapioca,     Arrow- 
root.   Sajro,    or 

Milk  Porridge.    . 
1-Joz.  1 
2  pt  Milk,  with  Ta- 

pior;i. 

4  times  a  week.] 
'2  p:s.  Bcrr.  M  n. 
1  pint,  Women. 
1  oz.  Butter,  twice 
a  week. 

'2  pints  Broth. 
1  pint  Beer. 
1  oz.  Butter. 

Rice,  as  may   be 

prescribed. 
Barley  water. 

maybe  pro.-cribrd. 
Burlt  y 

1  OZ.  Blltt'T. 

lln»ul     Pudding,  3 

units    :i    v, 
when  ordrrcil. 

3.  GUY'S  HOSPITAL. 


D  tity  .  \ 

FULL  DIET. 

MIDDLE  DIET. 

Low  DIET. 

MII  K  DIET. 

FEVER  DIET. 

14  oz.  Br^  .ul. 

li  OZ.  Bil'i-T 

1  quart  Table  . 
Beer. 
8oz.  Meat  when 
dressed. 

For 

12  oz.  Bread. 
H  oz.  Butter. 
1  pt.  Table  Beer. 
4  oz.  Meat,  when 
dressed,  and 
i  pint  Broth. 

each  diet,  Gruel  or 

12  oz.  Bread. 
1  oz.  Butter. 
Tea  and  Sugar. 

Half  a  pound  o 
root  or  Sag( 

Barley-water,  as  i 

12  oz.  Bread. 
1  07.  Butter. 
2  pints  milk. 

f  Beef,  (for  Beef 
>,  when  ordered, 
equired. 

6  oz.  Bread. 
1  oz.  Butler. 
Tea. 

-tea,)  or  Arrow- 

*  Inadditi  n  to  the  substances  specified  in  the  following  JDiet  Tables  <>f  the  31etropolitan  Hospitals, 
other  articles  (as  chops,  steaks,  fish,  wine,  spirit,  porter,  &c.)  are  permitted;  when  special  V  ordered  by  the 
medical  officers.  These  are  denominated  extras. 


DIETARIES  FOR  THE 

SICK. 

251 

4.  ST.  THOMAS'S  HOSPITAL. 

FULL   DIET. 

MILK   DIET. 

DRY   DIET. 

FEVER   DIET. 

Daily  .  .  .  .    | 
Breakfast  .  .  . 

2    pints  of  Beer;   14 
oz.  of  Bread. 
Water  Gruel. 

12  oz.  of  Bread." 
1  pint  of  Milk. 

14  oz.  of  Bread 
2  pints  of  Beer. 
Water  Gruel. 

12  oz.  of  Bread  ; 
2  pints  of  Beer. 
Water  Gruel. 

k  lb.  of  Beef,  when  dress- 

1  pint    of  milk 

4  oz.   of  Butter, 

t  of  a  lb.  of  Beef 

ed,  twice  a  week  ;  4 

four    times    a 

four    times    a 

for  tea. 

oz.  of  Butter,  or  6  oz. 

week. 

week  ;      Rice 

of  Cheese     thrice   a 
week;  i  lb.  of  Mut- 

Rice   Pudding 
thrice  a  week. 

Pudding  and  4 
oz.    of  Butter, 

ton,     when      boiled, 

three    times  a 

thrice  a  week. 

week. 

i 

Suppw    .  .  .    ? 

1  pint  Broth,  four  times 
a  week. 

1  pint  of  Milk. 

5.  ST.  GEORGE'S  HOSPITAL. 

ORD1NARY 

EXTRA    DIET. 

DIET. 

FISH   DIET. 

FEVER   DIET. 

BROTH   DIET. 

MILK    DIET. 

12  oz.  Bread. 

12  oz.  Bread. 

12  oz.  Bread. 

12  oz.  Bread. 

12  oz.  Bread. 

12  oz.  Bread. 

Men. 

1  pint  Beer. 

Barley  Wa- 

Daily  .  .  • 

2  pints  Beer. 

ter 

Women  . 

ad  libitum. 

H  pts.  Beer. 

Breakfast 

1  pint  Tea., 
i  pint  Milk. 
12  oz.  Meat, 

1  pint  Tea. 
i  pint  Milk. 

1  pint  Tea. 
i  pint  Milk. 

1  pint  Tea. 
i  pint  Milk. 

1  pint  Tea. 
i  pint  Milk. 

1  pint  Tea. 

i  pint  Milk. 

r 

oasted 

'Dinner  .   - 

Cweighed 
with  the  bone 
before  it  is 
dressed) 
four  days,— 
boiled  three 

One  half  the 
meat   allow- 
ed for  extra 
diet. 
*  lb.  Potatoes 

4  oz.  of  plain 
boiled  white 
fish  (as  Whi- 
ting, Plaice, 
Flounders, 
or  Haddock.) 

Arrow-root, 
&c.,  must  be 
specially  di- 
rected. 

1  pt.  Broth. 
6  oz.  light 
Pudding. 

11  pints  Rice 
Milk  four 
days. 
£  lb.    Bread 
or  Rice  Pud- 
ding three 

days.     tlb. 

days. 

Po 

tatoes. 

Supper  .    < 

1  pint  Gruel, 
i  pint  Milk. 

1  pint  Gmel. 
i  pint  Milk. 

1  pint  Gruel. 
i  pint  Milk. 

1  pint  Tea. 
i  pint  Milk. 

1  pint  Gruel, 
i  pint  Milk. 

i  pint  Milk. 

6.  WESTMINSTER  HOSPITAL. 

FULL   DIET. 

MIDDLE    DIET. 

LOW    DIET. 

SPOON,    OR 

INCURABLES' 

FEVER   DIET. 

DIET. 

Fixed. 

Casual. 

Daily  .  .  . 

14  oz.  Bread. 

10  oz.  Bread. 

t  lb.  Bread. 

— 

i  lb.  Bread. 

*  lb.  Bread. 

*  lb.  Meat. 

ilb.  Potatoes. 

i  pint  Milk. 

Breakfast 

1   pint  Milk 
Porridge,  or 
Rice  Gruel. 

1  pint  Milk 
Porridge,  or 
thin  Gruel. 

1   pint   Tea, 
with  Sugar 
and  Milk. 

— 

1  pint  Tea, 
with  Sugar 
and  Milk. 

1  pintPcrter. 

i  lb.  Meat 

i  lb.  Meat 

No  fixed  Diet 

1  pint  of 

Barley   Wa- 

roasted, 

roasted, 

for  Sinner. 

Broth,  or  i 

te 

boiled,  or 

boiled,  or 

lb.  of  Bread, 

chops. 

chops. 

or  Rice  Pud- 

lib 

of  Pota- 

lib.  of  Pota- 

ding, or  1 

toes. 

toes. 

pint  Beef 

Tea,  or  a 

Chop,  or 
Fish. 

Supper  .    < 

1   pint  Milk 
Porridge,  or 
Rice  Gruel. 

1   pint  Milk 
Porridge,  or 
thin  Gruel. 

1  pint  Tea, 
with  Sugar 
and  Milk. 

1   pint  Tea, 
with  Sugar 
and  Milk. 

252 


COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 


7.  MIDDLESEX  HOSPITAL. 


Dl^TA   CARNIS, 

DI-fiTA  JUSCULI 

DI.STA    LACTIS 

DI^ETA    SIMPIEX 

OR 

OR 

OR 

OR 

CANCER   DIET. 

MEAT   DIET. 

SOUP    DIET. 

MILK    DIET. 

SIMPLE    DIET. 

1 

Daily  .  . 

12  oz.  Bread. 

12  oz.  Bread. 

12  oz.  Bread. 

6  oz.  Bread. 

Bread. 

1  11).    V 

5  Ib.  Potatoes. 

1  pint  Milk. 

'Breakfast 

1  pint  Milk. 

1  pint  Milk. 

1  pint  Milk. 

1  pint    Barley- 

water. 

Physicians'  Patients. 

t  Ib.  Potatoes,  4  oz. 
dressed  meat  (beef 
or  mutton,)   roast 
and    boiled    alter- 
nately, 4  days. 
4  oz.  Meat  in  Soup, 

1     pint     Soup, 
made   with    4 
oz.  Beef,  alter- 
nately with  1 
pint  of  Broth 
with  Barley. 

i  pint  Milk  with 
Rice  Pudding. 
4    days,    and 
with  Batter 
PuddingS 
days. 

1  pint  Gruel. 

Dinner  .  • 

3  days. 

Surgeons'  Patients. 

1  Ib.  Potatoes,  4  oz. 

dressed  meat  (beef 

or  mutton,)   roast 

and   boiled    alter- 

nately. 

Supper  . 

1  pint  Gruel    alter- 
nately, with  1  pint 

1  pint  Gruel. 

i  pint  Milk,  or 
1  pint  of  Gruel. 

1  pint  of  Gruel 
or  Bade  v-  wa- 

of Barley-water. 

ter. 

8.  KING'S  COLLEGE  HOSPITAL. 

FULL  DIET. 

MIDDLE  DIET. 

MILK  DIET. 

LOW  DIET. 

1   DIET. 

Daily        .    . 

1  pint  Beer,  or 
1  pint  Porter. 

14  oz.  Bread. 

1  Ib.  Bread. 

8  oz.  Bread. 

} 

14  oz.  Bread, 

Breakfast      .     .     .    $ 

1  pint  Milk 
Porridge. 

1  pint  Milk 
Porridge. 

1  pint  Milk. 

1  pint  Gruel. 

1  pint  ' 

Dinner      .     .     .     .    < 

i  Ib.  Meat, 
i  Ib.  Potatoes. 

i  Ib.  Meat. 
i  Ib.  Potatoes. 

1  pint  Milk. 

1  pint  Broth. 

2  pint*  BurN'v 

\V.,t,T.      ' 

Supper      ....    | 

1  pint  Milk 
Porridge. 

Ipint  Milk 
Porridge. 

1  pint  Gruel. 

1  pint  Milk 
Porridge. 

Ipint  Milk 

Pun  , 

9.  DREADNOUGHT  HOSPITAL  SHIP. 

FULL  DIET. 

ORDINARY 
DIET. 

LOW  DIET. 

MILK  DIET. 

FEVER  DIKT. 

Breakfast     .          .    j 

1  pint  Tea. 
1  ib.  Bread. 

Ditto. 
Ditto. 

Ditto. 
i  Ib.  Bread. 

Ditto. 
1  Ib.  Bread. 

Ditto. 

r 

*  Ib.  Meat. 

*  Ib.  Meat. 

Dinner     .     .     .     .   •! 

I 

1  Ib.  Potatoes. 
2  pints  Beer, 
(if  ordered.) 

tlb.  Potatoes. 
1  pint  Beer, 
(if  ordered.) 

1  pint  of  Beef 
Tea. 

1  pint  Milk. 

Gruel. 

Supper     ...        ^ 

1  pint  Broth. 

1  pint  Broth 
or  Gruel. 

1  pint  Gruel 
.or  Milk, 
(if  ordered.) 

1  pint  Milk. 

Gruel  or  Bar- 

•    >trr. 

DIETARIES  FOR  THE  SICK. 


253 


10.  NORTH  LONDON  HOSPITAL. 


FULL  DIET. 

MIDDLE  DIET. 

LOW  DIET. 

MILK  DIET. 

Daily                            .  <! 

16  oz.  Bread, 
i  pint  Milk, 
tlb.  Meat  and  Hb. 

16  oz.  Bread. 
i  pint  Milk. 

8  oz.  Bread, 
ipint  Milk. 

17  oz.  Bread. 

I 

Potatoes  4  days. 
1  pint  Soup  or  Rice 
three  days. 

1  pint  Soup  or 
Rice. 

Oatmeal  for 
Gruel. 

2  pints  Milk. 

* 

* 

Dr.  Carpenter*  observes  that  "  there  can  be  little  doubt  that,  as  a  whole,  the  diet  of 
patients  in  English  hospitals  is  much  too  high,  being  far  better  than  that  to  which  the 
same  class  of  persons  is  accustomed  in  health :  this  is  attended  with  injury  to  the  pa- 
tients, arid  with  increased  expense  to  the  institution ;  and  it  has  further  the  injurious 
effect  of  tempting  the  patients  to  stay  in  the  hospital  for  a  longer  time  than  is  neces- 
sary." 

Taking  the  dietaries  of  the  metropolitan  hospitals  as  fair  samples  of  those  of  the  English 
hospitals  generally,  I  am  quite  willing  to  admit  that  the  full  diet  of  these  establishments 
is,  in  many  cases,  "  better  than  that  to  which  the  same  class  of  persons  is  accustomed  in 
health ;"  but  I  by  no  means  agree  with  Dr.  Carpenter  in  his  sweeping  assertion  that  it  is 
"  much  too  high."  That  life  may  be  supported  on  a  more  restricted  diet  cannot  be  de- 
nied ;  but  I  agree  with  the  Rev.  Mr.  Porteus,  in  his  letterf  to  the  citizens  of  Glasgow,  that 
"  it  is  a  difficult  matter  to  ascertain  what  is  necessary  to  preserve  life,"  and  that  "where- 
ever  the  starving  point  lies,  the  managers  of  charity  funds  should  endeavor  to  be  above  it." 

In  framing  dietaries  for  the  public  hospitals,  it  is  necessary  to  adapt,  them  to  the  wants 
of  the  average  of  the  patients.  No  diet  scale  can  be  formed  which  will  not  be  open  to 
objection  in  individual  cases  ;  but  I  contend  as  a  whole  the  dietaries  of  the  metropolitan 
hospitals  are  unobjectionable.  To  take  the  hospital  (London  Hospital,  Mile  End)  with 
which  I  am  connected,  as  an  example,  I  may  observe,  that  it  is  much  more  common  to 
hear  the  patients  complain  of  the  insufficiency  than  of  the  superabundance  of  its  full  diet. 
Many  of  them  are  strong,  healthy  men,  as  sailors,  accustomed  to  eat  heartily,  and  who 
have  received  some  accident  which  has  led  to  their  admission  into  the  hospital.  Others 
are  convalescents  from  long  and  lingering  illnesses,  with  depressed  vital  powers,  which 
require,  not  merely  to  be  maintained^  but  to  be  renovated  or  raised  to  the  healthy  stand- 
ard. The  rations  allowed  are  not,  in  general,  greater,  but  oftentimes  less,  than  can  be 
eaten  with  appetite  ;  but  should,  in  any  particular  case,  the  quantity  served  out  be  more 
than  is  requisite,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  medical  officer  to  place  such  patient  on  a  more 
limited  diet. 

The  objection  raised  by  Dr.  Carpenter  to  the  diet  of  the  English  hospitals,  that  it  has 
"  the  injurious  effect  of  tempting  the  patients  to  stay  in  the  hospital  for  a  longer  time 
than  is  necessary,"  would  be  valid,  if  these  establishments  were  compelled  to  retain  the 
patients  as  long  as  they  are  disposed  to  stay  ;  but  such  is  not  the  case.  They  are  dis- 
charged by  the  surgeon  or  physician,  under  whose  care  they  have  been  placed,  as  soon 
as  their  state  of  health  permits  this  to  be  r'one  with  safety. J 


*  Principles  of  Human  Physiology,  p.  384. 

t  See  Mr.  Molt's  report,  in  The  Second  Annual  Report  of  the  Poor  Law  Commissioners. 

+  Appendix,  22. 


254 

COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 

11.  DIETARIES  OF  ROYAL  NAVAL  HOSPITALS  AND  MARINE  INFIRMARIES. 

I 

FULL. 

HALF. 

LOW. 

FEVER 

Bread                   .     . 

lib. 

lib. 

8oz.           < 

8  oz.  or 
Sago  4  oz. 

Beef  or  m  .tton     . 

lib. 

8oz. 

0 

0 

Potatoes  or  greens 
Herbs  for  broth 

lib. 
25  drachms 

8oz. 
25  drachms 

0 
12i  drachms 

0 
0 

Barley     .     .     - 

14  ditto 
8  ditto 

14  ditto 
8  ditto 

7  ditto 
8  ditto 

0 
0 

Vinegar"      .     . 
Tea    .     .     :     . 

16  ditto 
4  ditto 

16  ditto 
4  ditto 

0 

4  ditto 

0 
4oz. 

Sugar     .     .     . 

16  ditto 
2-6ths  of  a  pint 

16  ditto 
2-Gths  of  a  pint 

16  ditto 
2-6ths  of  a  pint 

20  ditto 
2-6ths  of  a  pint 

Milk  \  <•     ,-Kpj 

o 

0 

ditto 

i  pint 

Broth      •         ... 

1  pint 

1  pint 

•  ditto 

House  $  Beer'  (sma11 
ae  )  or  strons)    . 

2  pints 
H  pints 

li  pints 
1  pint 

(  Wine  (    at 

Sur- 

1  pint 

Foreign  <     or     ]    at 

on's 

(  Porter  f  discretion 

li  pints 

( 

Such    quantities 

Veal         

1 

in  lieu 

of  beef 

1 

or   mutton  as 

Fish 

| 

the  medical  of- 

* 

ficer  IT 

my  pre- 

(^ 

scribe. 

f 

At  the  discretion 

Rice  or  flour  pudding 

.    2 

of  the  medical 

' 

officer 

Note.  —  Two  drachms  of  souchong  tea,  8  drachms  of  Muscovado  sugar,  and  one-sixth  of  a  pint  of 
milk,  to  be  allowed  to  each  patient  for  a  pint  of  tea  morning  and  evening. 

The  meat  for  the  full  and  half  diet  is  to  be  boiled  together,  with  the  14  drachms  of  Scotch  b.. 
8  drachms  of  onions,  1  drachm  of  parsley,  and  1(>  drachms  nf  rabbii':'1.  f«r  evry  pinf  of  lnoili  : 
the  discretion  of  the  medical  officers,  8  drachms  of  carrots,  and  8  drachms  of  turnips,  in  lieu  of  the 

cabbage,  which  will  make  a  smlicient  quantity  of  good  broth  to  allow  a  pint  to  each  on  full  and 
half  diet,  and  half  a  pint  to  each  on  low  diet:  — 

Rice  Pudding.  —  Each  to  contain 

Flour  Pudding.  —  Each  to  contain 

Rice 

.     3  oz. 

Flour 

. 

Sugar 

1  oz. 

Suirar 

1    07. 

Milk 

$  pint 

Miik 

I   D 

•    Eggs 

INo. 

1 

Cinnamon 

1  blade. 

Ginger 

a  : 

12.  ROYAL  ORDNANCE  HOSPITALS. 

ESTABLISHED 

DIET    TABLE. 

MEALS. 

FEVER. 

LOW. 

HALF. 

FULL. 

COMMON 

DRINKS. 

Breakfast      .     .     .    $ 

1  pint  of  Tea. 

1  pint  of  Tea. 

1  pint  of  Milk 
Porridge. 

1  pint  of  Milk 
Porridge. 

Toast  and 

Water. 

Dinner      .     .     .     .   -| 
I 

1  pint  of 
Water  Gruel. 
Bread  i  Ib. 

Broth  or  >  , 
Beef  tea  $  l  PL 
Bread  i  Ib. 
Meat  *  Ib. 
(to  make  broth) 
Potatoes  s  Ib. 

Meat  *  Ib. 
Bread  *  Ib. 
Broth  1  pint. 
Potatoes  1  Ib. 

Meat  1  Ib. 
Bread  1  Ib. 
Broth  1  pint. 
Potatoes  I  Ib. 
Beer  1  pint. 

Acidulated 
drink  or 
Cream  of 
Tartar  and 
Water. 

Supper      .     .     .     .    j 

1  pint  of  tea. 

1  pint  of  Rice 
Gruel. 

1  pint  of  Rice 
Gruel. 

1  pint  of  Rice 
Gruel. 

Barley  >  Wa- 
or  Rice  $  tor. 

=H 

•   

DIETARIES  FOR  THE  INSANE.  255 


"ROYAL  ORDNANCE   HOSPITALS—  Continued. 


I  The  Fever  Diet  is  adapted  to  such  cases  as  will  not  allow  of  any  excitement  from  animal  food,  in 
the  shape  of  Broth  or  otherwise :  extras,  therefore,  to  this  rate  of  Diet,  are  to  be  given  with  the  *ame 
•?iew,  except  in  cases  of  early  convalescence  from  Febrile  Diseases,  and  of  such  as  are  attended  with 
great  debility.  The  Bread  is  for  Panado  or  Toast  and  Water. 

It  is  to  be  considered  a  General  Rule  that  extras  are  to  be  ordered  in  addition  to  the  Fever  Diet. 
In  particular  cases,  however,  Rice  or  Bread  Pudding^  Sago,  an  increased  quantity  of  Bread,  or  other 
similar  articles,  may  be  added  to  the  low  diet. 

Milk  Diet  is  to  be  formed  by  the  substitution  of  one  pint  of  Milk  for  Tea,  either  in  the  Fever  or 
Low  Diet,  for  Breakfast  or  Supper,  or  both,  at  the  discretion  of  the  prescribing  Medical  Officer. 

The  Meat  mentioned  in  the  three  first  classes  of  Diet  is  to  be  Beef  and  Mutton  alternately  ;  and 
the  best  pieces  for  making  Broth  are  to  be  selected. 

In  particular  cases  Coffee  may  be  ordered  instead  of  Tea. 

As  the  Diet  Table  provides  liberally  for  almost  every  case  of  Disease  that  can  occur  in  Hospital 
Practice,  Medical  Officers  are  .strictly  to  adhere  to  it,  unless  very  peculiar  circumstances  render  a 
deviation  unavoidable.  The  Diet  ordered  for  Convalescents  should  always  be  increased  gradually, 
and  with  discrimination. 

The  following  proportions  of  Articles  are  to  be  allowed  for  those  parts  of  the  above-mentioned 
Diet  to  which  they  belong: — 

Tea  for  one  meal  Tea  1-6  ounce,  Sugar  I  ounce,  Milk  i  gill. 


Coffee 
Milk  Porridge 
Rice  Gruel 
Water  Gruel 
Broth 


Coffee  i  ounce,  Sugar  $  ounce,  Milk  1  gill. 
Oatmeal  1«  ounce,  Milk  1  gill,  Salt  1-8  ounce. 
Rice  li  ounce,  Sugar  i  ounce,  Milk  1  gill.    • 
Oatmeal  H  ounce,  Sugar  i  ounce. 
Oatmeal  $  ounce,  Barley  £  ounce,  Salt  -i-  ounce. 


e  „    c  f  H  S  Sago  1  ounce,  Sugar  i  ounce,  Water  $  pint. — Wine  may  be  added 

Sago  for  one  allowance     .  J     £  the  discre'tiorfol-  lhe  Med'ical  OfficerP 

Rice  Pudding  \  ^ce  ^  ounces>  Egg  1,  Sugar  1  ounce,  Milk  i  pint,  Cinnamon  1 

(  Bread  (from  the  Man's  alknvance)  2  ounces,  Milk  H  gill,  Egg  1,  a 

Bread  Pudding  little  Salt,  and  a  few  grains  of  Ginger,  Butter  i  ounce,  to  smear 

r      the  inside  of  the  basin. 


7.  DIETARIES  FOR  THE  INSANE. 

I  have  selected  the  diet  tables  of  Hanwell  Lunatic  Asylum,  Bethlem  Hospital,  and  St. 
Luke's  Hospital,  as  examples  of  the  dietaries  of  public  establishments  for  the  reception  of 
the  insane. 

It  has  been  remarked  by  Dr.  Conolly*  that  in  all  Lunatic  Asylums  "  there  are  patients 
who  require  food  in  much  greater  proportion  than  others ;  there  are  also  some  whose 
restlessness  at  night  seems  to  be  allayed  by  food,  although  they  do  not  complain  of 
hunger.  The  capriciousness  of  some  patients  respecting  taking  food  is  only  to  be  over- 
come by  temporary  indulgence  and  little  extra  allowances.  Without  this  consideration  a 
great  amount  of  discontent  will  occasionally  prevail  in  the  wards,  particularly  among  the 
female  patients ;  and  attention  to  this  point  is  to  them  more  important  than  the  applica- 
tion of  medicine." 

The  same  writer  in  another  placet  observes  that  the  cases  of  refusal  of  food  by  insane 
patients  are  chiefly  of  two  kinds: — "one,  in  which  food  is  refused  in  consequence  of 
some  delusion,  or  some  vow,  or  from  mere  obstinacy ;  the  patient  being  in  tolerable  bodi- 
ly health,  or  certainly  not  incapable  of  digesting  food  ;— another,  in  which  it  is  utterly  re- 
pugnant to  a  stomach  in  a  high  state  of  disorder." 

In  the  first  description  of  cases,  if  all  other  means  (such  as  varying  the  food,  persuasion, 
&c.,)  "tried  with  the  utmost  patience,  fail,  it  is  justifiable  and  even  necessary  to  introduce 
food  into  the  stomach  by  artificial  means."  This  is  usually  effected  by  the  stomach 
pump.  "  In  the  second,  the  condition  of  the  patient  is  entirely  different.  The  tongue  is 
red,  or  thickly  coated  ;  the  bo\vels  are  disordered  ;  there  is  present  a  low  kind  of  fever ; 

*  The  Report  of  the  Residejit  Physician  of  the  Hanwell  Lunatic  Asylum,  presented  to  the  Court  of 
Quarter  Sessions  for  Middlesex,  at  the  Michaelmas  Sessions,  1840. 

t  The  Third  Report  of  the  Resident  Physician  of  the  County  of  Middlesex  Pauper  Lunatic  Asylum  at 
Hanwell,  Oct.  1st,  1841. 


256 


COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 


the  brain  is  highly  excited,  and  the  patient  almost  too  feeble  to  stand  or  walk  except  by 
sudden  and  frantic  efforts.  His  face  is  pale,  the  eyes  are  sunk,  and  wild  in  their  ex- 
pression ;  and  the  whole  frame  is  emaciated  to  an  extreme  degree.  AH  these  are  so 
many  sure  signs  of  death  ensuing  on  long-continued  disease  of  the  brain,  with  all  its 
complications.  Nowhere  except  in  a  Lunatic  Asylum  would  such  signs  of  sinking  life 
be  recorded  as  the  result  of  food  being  refused.  The  aversion  to  take  food,  arises,  in 
such  cases,  as  in  cases  of  fever,  from  the  general  and  terrible  disorder  of  the  system  ; 
from  a  diseased  condition  of  the  stomach  itself,  among  other  organs,  associated  with  a 
brain  disturbed  to  excess.  To  force  food  into  the  enfeebled  and  dying  stomach  of  such 
patients  would  not  be  sanctioned  by  any  well-regulated  hospital,  or  by  any, competent 


] 

physician  ;  and  their  distinction  ought  not  to  be  overlooked  because  they  occur  in  an 
lospital  for  the  insane." 
1.  THE  HANWELL  LUNATIC  ASYLUM. 

Breakfast  .... 

Mates.—  Milk  thickened  with  Oatmeal  and  Flour,  1  pint  ;  Bread,  6  ounces. 
Females.—  Bread,  5  ounces  ;  Butter,  half  an  ounce  ;  Sugar,  4  ounces  per  week  ; 
Tea,  1  pint. 
r  Sunday  .  .  .    fMeat,  5  ounces,  cooked. 
Tuesday  .  .    1  Yeast  Dumpling,  4  ounces. 
Wednesday    1  Beer,  half  a  pint. 
Friday  ....    I  Vegetables. 

§g"<y."    S^Sce, 
Thursday..    (  Beer,  half  a  pint. 
(  Meat  Pie  Crust,  12  ounces. 
Saturday  .  .  .  <      "      "    Meat,  H  ounces. 
^                        (  Beer,  half  a  pint. 
Males.  —  Bread,  6  ounces;  Cheese,  2  ounces  ;  Beer,  half  a  pint. 
Fematis—  Milk  thickened  with  Oatmeal  and  Flour,  1  pint  ;  Bread,  5  ounces. 
'  To  Workmen.—  Out-door  Workers  to  be  allowed  half  a  pint  of  Beer  at  11  oYlm-1;. 
A.  M.,  and  at  4  P.  31.,  daily,  and  1  ounce  of  Tea  and  -1  ounces  of  Sugar  per 
week. 
To  Laundry  Women,  &c.  —  Laundry  Women  to  be  allowed  half  a  pint  of  Beer  at 
4  P.  M.,  and  together  with  Helpers,  &c.,  1  ounce  of  Tea  and  4  ounces  of  Sugar 
L        per  week,  in  lieu  of  the  ordinary  supper. 

Extras                     .  •< 

2.  BETHLEM  HOSPITAL. 

Breakfast  .    . 
Dinner       .     .     .     .- 

Supper  
Extras  

Gruel. 
'  Every  day  .  .  .  Table  Beer. 
Sunday  ....  ^  8  ounces  cooked  Meat. 
Tuesday  .  .  .  <  8  ounces  Bread. 
Friday  .  .    .  .  (  Vegetables. 
C  Baked  Batter  Pudding. 
Monday  .  .  .  .  ]  4  ounces  Bread. 
(  1  ounce  Cheese,  or  i  ounce  Butter. 
(  Pea  Soup,  with  Legs  and  Shins  of  Beef,  8  ounces  Bread.     In  the 
Wednesday    j         summer  months,  Baked  Rice  Pudding,  4  oz.  Bread,  1  oz. 
(         Cheese,  or  1  oz.  Butter. 
Thursday  ....  Boiled  Suet  Puddings,  4  oz.  Bread,  1  oz.  Cheese,  or  1  oz.  Butter. 
Saturday  ....  Rice  Milk,  8  oz.  Bread,  2  oz.  Cheese,  or  1  oz.  Butter. 
,  8  ounces  Bread,  2  ounces  Cheese,  or  1  ounce  Butter. 
Table  Beer. 
(  Mutton  Broth,  Beef  Tea,  Puddings,  Fish,  Meat,  Eggs,  Wine. 
For  the  Sick  <          Strong  Beer.  &c.  &c.,  or  whatever  may  be  ordered  bv 

(          the  medical  officer. 
(  8  oz.  Roast  Beef,  8  oz.  Bread.     (Mem.—  If  it  fall  on  an  ordi- 
Christmas  Day  .  .  .  .  j         nary  Meat  Day,  the  patients  have  a  Meat  Dinner  on  the 
(          following  day.)     A  Mince  Pie,  6d. 
New  Year's  Day  ....  Plum  Puddings,  in  addition  to  the  ordinary  dinner. 
Good  Friday     A  Bunn,  Id. 
Easter  MoncRiy   .  .  .  .  8  oz.  Roast  Veal,  8  oz.  Bread,  Vegetables 
Whit  Monday     .  .  .  .  8  oz.  Roast  Ve*!,  8  oz.  Bread,  Vegetables. 
Daring  the  summer,  about  the  month  of  August,  6  oz.  Bread,  Bacon,  Beans,  8  oz. 
Bread,  1  oz.  Butter  ;  Fruit,  consisting  of  Currants  and  Gooseberries. 
In  the  month  of  October,  Apple  Pies,  in  addition  to  the  ordinary  dinner. 

":rn 

DIETARIES  FOR  PUERPERAL  WOMEN.  257 

3.  ST.  LUKE'S  HOSPITAL. 


Males. — 2  pints  of  Gruel,  made  of  equal  parts  of  Milk  and  Water,  with  2  ounces  of 
Breakfast'.    .     .     .{         Bread. 

Females. — II  pints  of  Gruel,  with  2  ounces  of  Bread. 

'Daily Males. — 1  pint  Beer.    Females. — £  pint  Beer. 

Sunday (  Males.-*  lb.  cooked  Meat ;  Vegetables  ;  6  ounces  Bread. 

Thursda    "    (  Females-—±  lb.  cooked  Meat ;  Vegetables  ;  6  ounces  Bread. 
Monday  .  .  .  .  (  Males. — 2  pints  Broth,*  and  6  ounces  of  Bread 


Dinner 


Friday \  Females. — II  pint  Broth,  and  6  6n rices  of  Bread. 


w    ,        i         (  Males. — 1  pint  Broth,  4  ounces  Bread,  £  lb.  Baked  Suet  Pudding. 
day    I  Females.— I  pint  Broth,  4  ounces  Bread,  I  lb.  Pudding. 

(  Mules. — 2  pints  Rice  Milk,  or  1  lb.  Baked  Rice  Pudding,  and  6  oz 
Saturday  .  .  .  ]         Bread. 

(  Females.— II  pint  Rice  Milk,  or  f  lb.  Pudding,  and  6  oz.  Bread. 
8  ounces  Bread,  and  2  ounces  Cheese  or  Butter,  or,  on  Wednesdays,  1  pint  Brotl 
Supper  .         .    .     .  1         and  8  ounces  Bread. 

<J  Males. — 1  pint  Beer.     Females. — I  pint  of  Beer. 

*  The  Broth  is  made  of  the  liquor  of  the  preceding  day's  meat,  with  peas,  &c.,  ancj  2  stones  of  fr<*«sl 
meat,  for  every  50  patients. — (See  Appendix  23.) 


8.  DIETARIES  FOR  PUERPERAL  WOMEN. 

The  following  are  the  dietaries  employed  at  two  Metropolitan  Lying-in  Hospitals : — 
1.  CITY  OF  LONDON  LYING-IN  HOSPITAL. 


Breakfast. — Tea  and  Bread  and  Butter,  ad  libitum. 

Dinner. — Broth  or  Gruel  until  the  third  day,  after  which  Boiled  Mutton  and  Broth. 

Tea.— As  Breakfast. 

Supper. — Gruel  until  after  the  ninth  day  ;  then  Bread  and  Cheese  and  Beer. 

Should  the  patient  be  delicate  she  is  allowed  Wine,  Fish,  Light  Puddings,  or  any  other  thing  she 
may  fancy. 

In  cases  of  disease  the  diet  is  under  the  direction  of  the  medical  officers. 

When  the  mother  is  prevented  suckling,  the  child  is  suckled  by  some  other  patient,  or  is  fed  will* 
Arrowroot,  or  a  little  of  the  Gruel  prepared  for  the  mother. 


2.  GENERAL  LYING-IN  HOSPITAL,  WESTMINSTER. 


Dr.  Rigby  informs  me  that  there  is  no  peculiar  dietary.  Gruel,  with  Bread  and  Butter  and  Te-i. 
is  the  chief  diet  for  the  first  three  days ;  then  a  Little  Broth  or  Light  Pudding ;  so  that  by  the  fifiu 
day  or  so  Meat  is  permitted. 

If  the  mother  be  unable  to  suckle,  the  infant  is  occasionally  fed  with  Gruel,  or  equal  parts  of  Milk 
and  Water,  slightly  sweetened. 


CHAP.  V. — On  the  Dietetical  Regimen  suited  for  Disordered  States  of  the 

Digestive  Organs. 

JN  consequence  of  the  great  extent  to  which  the  preceding  parts  of  this  work  have  run 
out, — an  extent  considerably  greater  than  was  originally  contemplated, — I  am  under  the 
necessity  of  compressing  the  subjects  of  this  chapter  into  a  much  narrower  compass  than 
was  at  first  proposed.  Most  of  them,  however,  have  already  been  incidentally  referred 
to  ;  and  the  principles,  on  which  are  founded  the  precepts,  which  I  am  about  to  lay  down, 
have  been  before  sufficiently  discussed.  The  present  chapter  is,  in  fact,  a  condensed  and 
brief  summary  of  some  of  the  topics  already  examined.  In  order,  therefore,  to  save  repe- 

17 


258  COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 

tition,  I  shall  put  within  brackets  the  pages  at  which  the  different  points  under  examina- 
tion have  been  respectively  considered. 

The  subjects  of  the  present  chapter  may  be  coi  /eniently  arranged  under  the  following 
heads : — 

1.  Cookery  of  Foods. 

2.  Times  of  Eating. 

3.  Quantity  of  Food  taken  at  one  meal. 

4.  Conduct  before,  at,  and  after  eating. 

5. .Nature  and  Quality  of  the  Food  eaten. 

1.  Cookery  of  Foods. — The  influence  of  cookery  on  food  I  have  on  several  occasions 
already  referred  to,  (see  pp.  62,  92,  100,  101,  112,  114,  129,  136,  213,  &c.) 

Foods  possessing  an  organized  texture,  as  animal  flesh  and  amylaceous  substances, 
require  to  be  cooked  previous  to  use,  (see  p.  213.)  To  this  statement  the  oyster  is  an 
exception,  (see  p.  140;)  the  raw  animal  being  more  digestible  than  the  cooked  one. 
Apples,  pears,  and  some  other  fruits,  likewise  form  exceptions. 

By  salting,  smoking,  and  pickling,  (see  pp.  109  and  136,)  the  animal  textures  become 
harder  and  more  indigestible  ;  and  foods  thus  prepared  are,  therefore,  unfitted  for  the  use 
of  dyspeptics.  From  this  statement  bacon  must,  in  some  cases,  be  excepted  ;  as  it  occa- 
sionally proves  more  digestible  than  the  fresh  fat,  (see  p.  84.) 

Sausages  and  cured  meats  occasionally  acquire  deleterious  qualities  by  keeping,  (see 
p.  142.) 

The  ordinary  operations  of  the  cook  may  be  reduced  to  five  in  number ;  viz.  boiling, 
roasting,  broiling,  baking,  and  frying. 

Boiling  is  the  operation  by  far  the  best  suited  for  the  dyspeptic,  the  convalescent,  and 
*he  sick.  In  the  case  of  vegetables,  it  effects  the  solution  of  gummy  and  saccharine  sub- 
stances, and  the  expulsion,  wholly  or  partially,  of  volatile  oil,  (see  p.  183  ;)  while  starch 
grains  are  ruptured  and  partially  dissolved,  (see  p.  62,)  and  albuminous  and  fibrinous 
liquids  coagulated,  (see  p.  181.)  The  changes  which  it  effects  on  animal  flesh  have  al- 
ready been  fully  considered,  (see  pp.  196-197.)  Over-boiling  proves  injurious  to  certain 
substances,  as  to  eggs,  (see  pp.  92  and  129,) — which  are  thereby  hardened,  and  ren- 
dered difficult  of  digestion, — and  to  the  gelatinous  foods,  which  become  by  it  both  less  di- 
i£'3stible  and  less  nutritive,  (see  pp.  100  and  101.)  Boiling  renders  potatoes  more  fit  for 
use,  not  merely  by  promoting  their  digestibility  and  nutritive  power,  but  also  by  extracting 
or  destroying  roxious  matter  in  the  tuber,  (see  p.  181.)  Over-boiling,  however,  though 
it  may  promote  their  digestibility,  probably  lessens  their  nutritive  quality,  (seep.  !*••-'. 
Foliaceous  parts,  as  of  cabbages,  greens,  &c.,  require  well  boiling  to  render  them  di- 
gestible. 

Roasting,  next  to  boiling,  is  the  best  method  of  preparing  food  for  dyspeptics.  It  splits 
and  renders  more  or  less  soluble  starch  grains,  and,  therefore,  serves  to  make  some  vege- 
tables more  digestible  and  nutritive  than  fhey  would  be  in  the  raw  state  ;  as  apples,  (see 
p.  168,)  and  potatoes.  It  also  coagulates  the  vegetable  albumen.  It  deprives  flesh  of 
part  of  its  water,  liquefies  the  fat,  which  thereby  partially  escapes  during  the  operation, 
coagulates  the  albumen,  and  corrugates  the  fibrine.  It  does  not  appear  that  it  effects  any 
cnange  in  the  composition  of  the  proteinaceous  constituent  of  meat,  (see  p.  114.)  Roasted 
meat  should  be  neither  oxer-done  nor  under-done.  It  is  a  popular  opinion  that  it  is  much 
more  nourishing  when  under-done  ;  but  this  is,  probably,  an  error.  For  the  juice,  which  is 
more  abundant  in  the  under-dressed  meat,  is  almost  entirely  aqueous,  and  can  }> 
very  slightly  nutritive  qualities.  Moreover,  by  the  prolonged  roasting,  the  water  of  the 
riice  is  evaporated,  the  nutritive  matter  almost  entirely  remaini  ng  in  the  cooked  meat ; 


TIMES  OF  EATING.  259 


the  composition  of  the  solid  or  dry  matter  of  which  is,  as  I  have  already  stated,  identical 
with  that  of  raw  meat.  So  that  well-done  meat,  probably,  differs  essentially  from  meat 
under-dressed,  in  having  a  little  less  both  of  water  and  fat,  while  it  has  the  additional  ad- 
vantage of  being  more  digestible.  By  roasting,  the  gelatine  is  not  extracted,  as  in  the 
operation  of  boiling. 

Broiling  effects  the  same  changes  in  meat  as  those  produced  by  roasting,  but  more 
rapidly  ;  so  that  while  the  outside  is  scorched,  the  inside  retains  its  juiciness.  Broiled 
meat,  like  roasted  meat,  is  more  savory,  though  somewhat  less  fitted  for  very  delicate 
stomachs,  than  boiled  meat.  A  well-broiled  mutton  chop,  however,  is,  for  the  most  part, 
an  unobjectionable  dish  for  the  dyspeptic. 

Baking  is  a  more  objectionable  process  than  any  of  Lie  preceding.  Though  the  gene- 
ral effects  produced  by  it  are  analogous  to  those  of  roasting  and  boiling,  yet  meat  so 
cooked  is  less  fitted  for  delicate  stomachs  in  consequence  of  being  more  impregnated 
with  empyreumatic  oil.  From  an  experiment  already  related,  (see  p.  181,)  it  appears 
that  baked  potatoes  are  less  nutritive  than  boiled  ones.  The  dyspeptic  will  act  wisely 
in  avoiding  the  use  of  all  baked  foods,  except,  perhaps,  baked  amylaceous  puddings, 
as  puddings  made  with  sago,  tapioca,  arrow-root,  rice,  &c. 

Frying  is  of  all  culinary  operations  the  most  objectionable  ;  fried  foods  being  more  ob- 
noxious to  the  digestive  organs  than  foods  prepared  by  any  other  methods.  The  reason 
of  this  I  have  already  explained,  (see  p.  83.)  Invalids,  convalescents,  and  dyspeptics, 
will,  therefore,  do  well  to  eschew  this  method  of  cookery;  and  abstain  from  the  use  of 
eggs,  omelettes,  pancakes,  fritters,  fish,  livers,  and  other  dishes  cooked  by  frying. 

2.  Times  of  Eating. — I  have  already  fully  discussed  this  topic,  (see  p.  220.)     It  is  to 
be  remembered  that  the  practice  of  eating  a  little  and  often  is,  for  the  most  part,  injuri- 
ous ;  and  that  the  adoption  of  fixed  periods  for  taking  food  is  much  more   conducive  to 
health  than  eating  at  irregular  times.     The  length  of  the  interval  between  the  meals  must, 
however,  be  regulated  by  circumstances  ;  such  as  the  rapidity  of  digestion,  the  age,  the 
amount  of  fatigue  or  labor,  &c.     In  some  persons,  (as  those  of  sluggish  temperament,) 
digestion  is  much  slower  than  in  others  ;  and  in  such  the  intervals  between  the  meals 
ought  to  be  more  prolonged,  in  order  that  fresh  food  may  not  be  introduced  into  the 
stomach  before  that  of  the  previous  meal  has  been  disposed  of.     Children,  old  persons, 
and  those  who  are  engaged  in  laborious  occupations,  require  food  at  shorter  intervals. 

Breakfast  should  in  general  be  taken  soon  after  rising,  for  reasons  already  assigned, 
(see  p.  221.)  Dinner  should  follow  at  an  interval  of  about  five  hours,  more  or  less,  ac- 
cording to  circumstances.  The  practice  of  dining  late  is  objectionable  for  the  dyspeptic  ; 
the  most  natural  and  healthy  dinner-time  being  about  the  middle  of  the  day.  Luncheon 
is  admissible  only  where  dinner  is  unavoidably  late,  or  where  fatigue  has  been  endured. 
Tea  or  a  liquid  meal  may  succeed  dinner  at  an  interval  of  three  or  four  hours.  Supper 
for  those  who  dine  late  is  unnecessary. 

3.  Quantity  of  Food  taken  at  one  Meal — The  quantity  of  food  proper  to  be  taken  at  one 
meal  can  only  be  determined  by  the  feelings  of  the  patient,  as  it  varies  in   different  indi- 
vidual?, and  under  different  circumstances.     It  is  impossible,  therefore,   to  affix  a  stan- 
dard of  weights  or  measures  by  which  this  can  be  ascertained.     On  this  point  I  cannot 
do  better  than  quote  the  following  observations  of  Dr.  Beaumont: — "There  appears  to  be 
a  sense  of  perfect  intelligence  conveyed  from  the  stomach  to  the  encephalic  centre,  which, 
in  health,  invariably  dictates  what  quantity  of  aliment  (responding  to  the  sense  of  hunger 
and  its  due  satisfaction)  is  naturally  required  for  the  purposes  of  life;  and  which,  if  no- 
ticed and  properly  attended  to,  would  prove  the  most  salutary  monitor  of  health,  and  ef- 
fectual  "eventive  of,  and  restorative  from,  disease.     It  is  not  the  sense  of  satiely,  for  this 


260  COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 


is  beyond  the  point  of  healthful  indulgence,  and  is  Nature's  earliest  indication  of  an  abuse 
and  overburden  of  her  powers  to  replenish  the  system.  It  occurs  immediately  previous  to 
this,  and  may  be  known  by  the  pleasurable  sensation  of  perfect  satisfaction,  ease,  and  qui- 
escence of  body  and  mind.  It  is  when  the  stomach  says  enougli,  and  is  distinguished  from 
satiety  by  the  difference  of  the  sensations — the  former  feeling  enough — the  latter  loo  much. 
The  first  is  produced  by  the  timely  reception  into  the  stomach  of  proper  aliment,  in  exact 
proportion  to  the  requirements  of  nature,  for  the  perfect  digestion  ot  which  a  definite 
quantity  of  gastric  juice  is  furnished  by  the  proper  gastric  apparatus.  But  to  effect  this 
most  agreeable  of  all  sensations  and  conditions— the  real  Elysian  satisfaction  of  the  rea- 
sonable epicure— timely  attention  must  be  paid  to  the  preliminary  processes,  such  as 
thorough  mastication,  and  moderate  or  slow  deglutition.  These  are  indispensable  to  the 
due  and  natural  supply  of  the  stomach  at  the  stated  periods  of  alimentation  ;  for  if  food 
be  swallowed  too  fast,  and  pass  into  the  stomach  imperfectly  masticated,  too  much  is  re- 
ceived in  a  short  time,  arid  in  too  imperfect,  a  state  of  preparation,  to  be  disposed  of  by 
the  gastric  juice." 

4.  Conduct  before,  at,  and  after  eating. — Excessive  fatigue,  whether  mental  or  bodily,  im- 
mediately before  a  meal,  disturbs  the  digestive  function.  The  stomach  participates  with 
the  other  parts  of  the  system  in  the  exhaustion,  and  its  function  is  thereby  impaired.  A 
little  rest  before  eating  is,  therefore,  under  such  circumstances,  desirable.  •  Hence  the  wis- 
dom and  advantage  "of  appropriating  half  an  hour  to*  any  light  occupation,  such  as 
dressing,  before  sitting  down  to  dinner."* 

While  at  meals  eat  slowly,  masticate  thoroughly,  and  cease  as  soon  as  a  feeling  of  sat- 
isfaction is  perceived  Indulgence  in  the  use  of  a  variety  of  food  at  one  meal  leads  to 
the  overburdening  of  the  stomach  by  provoking  the  appetite  beyond  its  natural  extent. 
This  the  dyspeptic  should  carefully  avoid. 

I  have  already  expressed  my  opinion  of  the  propriety  of  repose  after  dinner,  (see  p.  213 
and  214.)  The  Inspectors  of  Prisons  seem  to  have  been  influenced  by  a  similar  opinion 
when  they  came  to  the  conclusion  "  that  prisoners  should  not  be  set  to  work  immedi- 
ately after  any  meal,"  (see  p.  242.)  But  the  after-dinner  repose  should  be  followed  by 
moderate  exercise. 

i     5.  Nature  and  Qualify  of  the  Food  eaten. — I  have  already  remarked,  (see  p.  110,)   that 
man  is  an  omnivorous  animal ;  that  is,  he  requires  both  animal  and  vegetable  food. 

Several  alimentary  principles,  (fibrine,  albumen,  caseine,  oil,  and  sugar,)  are  found  in 
both  animal  and  vegetable  foods.  But  the  nutritive  principles  of  animal  foods,  are  inter- 
mixed with  a  much  smaller  proportion  of  non-nutritive  substances  than  those  of  vegetable 
foods.  Hence  animal  diet  yields  a  much  larger  amount  of  nourishment  than  vegetable  diet 

Vegetable  food  requires  for  its  digestion  more  time,  and  probably  greater  power  of  the 
gastric  organs,  than  animal  food.  Moreover,  it  is  more  apt  to  create  flatulency  and  aces- 
cency  than  the  latter.  "Its  digestibility  is,  however,  dependent  upon  the  same  law*  as 
those  that  govern  the  solution  of  animal  food  ;  and  it  is  facilitated  by  division  and  ten- 
derness.''! 

"  Bulk  is,  perhaps,  nearly  as  necessary  to  the  articles  of  diet  as  the  nutrient  principle. 
They  should  be  so  managed  that  one  shall  be  in  proportion  to  the  other.  Too  highly  nu- 
tritive diet  is,  probably,  as  fatal  to  the  prolongation  of  life  and  health  as  that  which  con- 
tains an  insufficient  quantity  of  nutriment.  It  has  been  ascertained  that  carnivorous  ani- 
mals will  not  live  on  highly  concentrated  food  alone."J  (See  p.  219.) 

*  Dr.  Combe,  The  Physiology  of  Digestion.    P.  260,  4th  ed. 

t  Dr.  Beaumont,  Experiments  and  Observations  on  the  Gastric  Juice,  p.  27.     Edinb.  ed.  1838. 

I  Ibid.  p.  31. 


NATURE  AND  QUALITY  OF  FOOD.  261 

According  to  Dr.  Beaumont's  observations,  solid  food  is  sooner  digested  than  liquid 
food.  Fluids  holding  proteinaceous  substances  (albumen  or  caseine)  in  solution,  as 
milk  or  raw  egg,  are  coagulated  in  the  stomacl  before  they  suffer  the  action  of  the  gastric 
juice,  Mhich  subsequently  redissolves  them.  Solutions  of  gelatine,  (as  strong  broths  and 
soups,)  being  unsusceptible  of  coagulation,  are  not  digested  until  they  have  acquired  a 
more  solid  consistence  by  the  absorption  of  their  more  watery  part.  These  observations, 
therefore,  suggest  some  useful  practical  applications.  Persons  with  weak  stomachs 
should  not  indulge  in  the  copious  use  of  liquid  food. 

Acidity  of  stomach  arises  from  the  presence  of  acids  derived,  either  from  the  gastric 
vessels  or  from  the  food.  The  latter  is  the  only  source  of  acidity  which  it  will  be  requi- 
site for  me  to  notice,  and  that  so  far  only  as  may  be  necessary  to  explain  the  nature  of 
alimentary  substances  which  develop  acid. 

Lactic  acid,  (see  pp.  56  and  76,)  is  one  of  the  substances  derived,  in  part  at  least,  from 
the  food.  The  alimentary  principles  which  yield  it  are  sugar,  dextrine,  (starch  gum,)  and 
gum  :*  those  which  furnish  ft  with  the  most  facility  are  sugar  of  milk  and  dextrine.  The 
acidity  of  stomach  which  is  produced  in  some  dyspeptics  by  saccharine  substances,  arises 
from  the  development  of  lactic  acid.  Milk  also  is  apt  to  disagree  with  such  individuals, 
not  only  in  consequence. of  the  difficult  digestibility  of  its  fatty  constituent,  (the  butter,) 
but  also  on  account  of  the  conversion  of  its  sugar  into  lactic  acid.  Both  bread  and  beer 
contain  dextrine,  and  are  the  occasional  sources  of  this  acid.  The  tendency  which  some 
farinaceous  substances — as  oatmeal,  (see  pp.  76  and  155,)  and  potato  starch,  (p.  65) — 
have  to  cause  acidity  of  stomach,  is  owing,  probably,  to  the  formation  first  of  dextrine, 
and  afterwards  of  lactic  acid. 

Some  of  the  fatty  acids  are  also  produced  in  the  stomach  from  the  food.  The  volatile 
ones,  (as  butyric  acid  from  butter,)  are  exceedingly  obnoxious  to  this  organ.  The  disa- 
greeable sour  and  rancid  eructations  which.sometimes  follow  the  use  of  fatty  foods,  es- 
pecially of  melted  butter,  are  due  to  the  development  of  these  acids. 

The  difficult  digestion  of  oils  and  fats  I  have  on  several  occasions  noticed,  (see  p.  84 :) 
and  to  the  remarks  already  offered  on  this  subject  I  must  refer  my  reader  for  further 
information.  I  have  expressed  an  opinion,  (see  p.  83,)  that  in  cases  where  these  sub- 
stances prove  obnoxious  to  the  stomach,  it  is  in  consequence  of  the  evolution  of  the* 
oily  or  fatty  acids.  In  connection  with  this  opinion  I  may  refer  to  some  recent  observa- 
tions of  Dumas,f  who  has  suggested  that  the  separation  of  the  neutral  fats  into  an  acid 
and  a  base  is  probably  effected  by  ,a  kind  of  fermentation,  (which  he  denominates  the  fatty 
fermentation,}  set  up  by  an  albuminous  substance,  aided  by  the  presence  of  air,  water,  and 

*  The  organic  principles  capable  of  yielding  lactic  acid  have  a  composition  analogous  to  that  of  the  acid 
itself:  that  is,  they  consist  of  carbon  and  water,  (or  its  elements.) 

Aloms.  Atoms. 

Lactic  acid  .  ,12  carbon  4-  10  water. 


Starch 
Dextrine 
Cane  sugar 
Gum    . 
Sugar  of  mifa 
Grape  sugar 


± 


12  carbon  4-  10  water. 

12  carbon  4-  10  water. 

12  carbon  4-  11  water. 

12  carbon  4-  11  water. 

12  carbon  4-  12  water. 


-f-  12 
+  14 


12  carbon  4-   14  water. 


But  in  order  to  convert  them  into  this  acid,  or,  in  other  words,  to  etlect  what  has  been  termed  the  lactic 
fermentation,  the  presence  of  an  organic  nitrogenized  substance,  which  has  been  modified  by  exposure  to 
the  air,  is  necessary.  Its  influence  is  that  of  a  kind  of  ferment.  Diastase,  caseine,  and  animal  mem- 
brane, (as  that  of  the  stomach,)  when  they  have  been  exposed  to  the  air,  act  as  ferments.  Acccording 
to  Boulron  and  Fremy,  (Journ.  de  Pharm.  t.  xxvii.  1841,)  mannite  and  viscid  matter  are  not  always  simul- 
taneously d3veloped  with  lactic  acid,  as  stated  by  some  other  chemists,  (see  ante,  p.  56.) 

t  Trca.i  le  Chimie  appliqut  aux  Arts,  t.  vi.     1843, 


(  26?  COMPOUND  ALIMENTS. 


a  certain  temperature.  Thus  the  facility  with  which  butter  becomes  rancid  depends  on 
the  presence  of  caseine  ;  from  which  it  is  necessary  to  separate  it  in  order  to  its  p.eser- 
vation.  This  is  usually  effected  by  fusion.  The  acid  properties  which  the  fats  some- 
times acquire  in  the  stomach  may  arise  from  their  having  undergone  some  analogous 
change  ;  and  Dumas  suggests  that  the  influence  of  pepsine  on  the  fats  should  be  ex- 
amined. 

New  bread,  rolls,  fancy  bread,  cakes,  (especially  rich  plum-cakes,)  and  hot  buttered 
toast,  should  be  carefully  avoided  by  the  dyspeptic.     Good  loaf  bread,  when  a  day  old,  is 
in  general  unobjectionable  :  it  may  be  taken  either  in  the  form  of  dry  toast,  or,  in 
cases,  thinly  covered  with  butter.     When  the  ordinary  loaf  bread  disagrees  with  th<>  pa- 
tient, Dodson's  unfermented   bread,  (see  p.  152,)   may  be  tried.     Biscuits,  on  account  of 
their  compactness,  are  slow  of  digestion,  though  they    sometimes  suit   dyspeptics 
than  fermented  bread.     Pastry,  suet,  and  yeast  pudding,  and  pancake,  are  totally  unfit  for 
those  troubled  with  a  delicate  stomach,  (see  p.  153.) 

Of  butcher's  meat,  mutton  and  beef  are  best  fitted  for  the  dyspeptic.     They  should  be 
cooked  by  boiling,  roasting,  or  broiling ;  and  moderately  well  dressed.     With  some  per- 
sons, however,  mutton  is  apt  to  disagree,  (see  p.  116  ;)  with  others  I  have  occasionally 
found  beef  to  disagree.     The  young  meats  (lamb  and  veal)  are  less  adapted  for  p- 
troubled  with  indigestion,  being  both  less  indigestible  and  nutritive  than  the  older  i. 
Veal  is  further  objectionable  on  account  of  the  melted  •  butter  and  stuffing  usually 
with  it    Pork  should  be  avoided  by  dyspeptics  ;  but  pickled  pork  and  bacon  are,  in  gen- 
eral, less  objectionable  than  fresh  pork,  (see  p.  84.) 

Venison  is  one  of  the  most  digestible  of  meats,  (see  p.  115  ;)  but  it  is  too  savory  and 
stimulating  for  convalescents.  The  flesh  of  the  rabbit  is  light,  and  easy  of  digestion. 

Of  birds,  the  white-fleshed,  as  the  common  fowl,  are  best  fitted  for  dyspeptics  arid  in- 
valids, on  account  of  their  meat  being  rea*dily  digestible,  moderately  nutritious,  and  not 
too  stimulating.  They  are  best  cooked  by  boiling,  and  should  be  eaten  without  melted 
butter.  Game,  as  the  pheasant  and  partridge,  is  richer  and  more  stimulating.  Th« 
aquatic  birds,  as  the  duck  and  goose,  are  more  difficult  of  digestion  on  account  of  their 
flesh  being  permeated  with  fat ;  and  they  are,  therefore,  unfit  for  weak  stomachs. 
"  The  white  fish  (as  the  sole  and  whiting)  form  Jght  and  easily  digestible  articles  of  food, 
and  are  well  adapted  for  theNuse  of  dyspeptics,  invalids,  and  convalescents.  Th«-y  should 
be  cooked  by  boiling,'  and  eaten  without  melted  butter.  Salmon,  eels,  herrings,  and  sprats 
abound  in  oil,  and  on  that  account  are  objectionable.  Cured  fish  of  all  kinds  are  unfit  f  >r 
persons  with  a  delicate  stomach. 

Shell-fish,  with  the  exception  of  the  oyster,  are  difficult  of  digestion,  and  should  be 
avoided  by  the  dyspeptic. 

Mealy  potatoes,  when  well  boiled,  are  readily  digestible  ;  and,  in  general,  are  an  unob- 
jectionable article  of  food.  The  cabbage  tribe  is  somewhat  uncertain  :  when  sufficiently 
cooked  it  is  frequently  taken  by  dyspeptics  without  any  inconvenience  ;  but  at  other  times 
it  proves  indigestible,  and  occasions  flatulence.  Peas  and  beans,  especially  when  old,  are 
difficult  of  digestion,  and  apt  to  cause  flatulence. 

The  oily  seeds,  as  the  walnut,  the  filbert,  and  the  almond,  are  highly  indigestible 
foods. 

Of  the  fleshy  fruits,  the  grape  is  the  safest.  Apples  and  pears  should  be  roasted  before 
use.  Oranges,  when  quite  ripe,  seldom  prove  injurious ;  unripe  ones,  however,  are  apt 
to  gripe. 

For  drink,  simple  water  or  toast  water  is  unobjectionable.  In  many  cases  the  limited 
use  of  weak  table  ale  is  unattended  with  ill  effects,  (see  p.  200.)  Malt  liquor  of  all  kinds, 


NATURE  .AND  QUALITY  OF  FOOD. 


in  some  instance^  proves  injurious,  creating  flatulence  and  acidity,  and  otherwise  dis- 
turbing the  digestive  functions.  In  such  cases  a  small  quantity  of  sherry  wine  may  be 
substituted.  Dr.  Paris  states,  that,  in  some  cases  of  dyspepsia,  wine  and  beer  equally  dis- 
agree with  the  stomach,  producing  acidity  and  other  distressing  symptoms ;  and  in  such, 
he  observes,  "  very  weak  spirit  may,  perhaps,  be  taken  with  advantage."  To  the  accu- 
racy of  this  observation  I  can  bear  testimony,  having  repeatedly  found  the  substitution 
of  a  weak  spirit  preferable  to  fermented  liquids. 

A  weak  infusion  of  black  tea  rarely  proves  injurious,  (see  p.  192  et.  seq.)  Coffee,  em- 
ployed moderately,  is,  in  general,  a  wholesome  beverage,  (see  p.  193  et.  seq.)  Chocolate 
and  cocoa  are  objectionable  in  some  cases,  on  account  of  their  oily  ingredient,  (see  pp. 
194  and  195.)  But  to  all  these  statements  exceptions  occasionally  are  met  with. 

I  have  already  stated,  (see  p.  209,)  that  many  of  the  substances  called  condiments  are, 
in  fact,  aliments  ;  and  as  such  their  dietetical  properties  have  already  been  alluded  to. 
But  the  hot  and  pungent  condiments,  such  as  pepper,  cayenne,  mustard,  &c.,  as  well  as 
the  ingredients  of  some  of  the  sauces,  cannot  be  regarded  as  alimentary.  They  act  as 
stimulants  to  the  stomach,  and  though,  when  used  very  moderately,  they  may  not  prove 
injurious,  it  can  scarcely  be  doubted  that  their  free  employment  must  be  hurtful  to  the 
dyspeptic,  not  only  by  provoking  the  appetite  beyond  its  natural  limit,  but  also  by  exciting 
the  stomach  itself.  On  this  subject,  however^  I  have  already  offered  some  remarks,  to 
which  the  reader  is  referred,  (see  p.  210.) 

I  do  not  think  it  necessary  to  enter  further  into  the  digestible  properties  of  aliments, 
and  their  suitability  to  the  dyspeptic,  as  these  subjects  have  been  already  fully  c'scussed 
in  previous  parts  of  this  work. 


APPENDIX. 


(A.)— Page  10. 
ALIMENTIVENESS 

THE  best-it] formed  physiologists  of  the  present  day  admit,  with  our  author,  the  exist- 
ence of  an  organ  of  Alimenliueness,  or  Organ  of  the  Appetite  for  Food,  though  they  are  not 
exactly  agreed  as  to  its  precise  location.  The  far-reaching  sagacity  of  Gall  perceived  that 
the  appetite  for  food  is  an  instinct,  not  referrible  to  any  of  the  recognised  principles  of 
mind-,  and  therefore  must  be  a  primitive  power,  and,  like  the  other  faculties  and  instincts, 
must  owe  its  existence  and  exercise  to  some  definite  portion  of  cerebral  matter.  Dr. 
Hoppe  of  Copenhagen  followed  up  the  suggestion  of  Gall,  and  showed  very  conclusively, 
that,  besides  the  nerves  of  the  stomach  and  palate,  an  affection  of  which  gives  rise  to  the 
sensations  of  hunger  and  thirst,  there  must  also  be  an  organ  in  the  brains  of  animals  for 
the  instinct  of. nutrition,  (taking  nourishment  for  the  preservation  of  life,)  which  incites 
them  to  the  sensual  enjoyments  of  the  palate,  and  the  activity  of  which  is  independent  of 
hunger  and  thirst.  "How,"  says  he,  "should  the  mere  sense- of  hunger,  more  than  any 
other  disagreeable  or  painful  sensation,  make  the  animal  desire  food,  the  necessity  of  such 
not  being  known  to  him  by  experience  ?  This  could  only  be  effected  by  instinct,  because, 
either  an  instinct,  i.  e.  the  immediate  impulse  of  an  organ,  or  else  experience  and  reflec- 
tion, are  the  causes  of  all  actions."  Hunger  and  thirst  are,  therefore,  to  be  discriminated 
from  the  desire  of  food  called  appetite;  the  former  being  an  affection  of  the  nerves  of 
the  stomach  and  palate,  caused  by  deficiency  of  necessary  supply  ;  but  appetite  is  an  ac- 
tivity  of  a  fundamental  instinct,  which  has  in  the  brain  an  organ  analogous  to  those  of 
the  other  faculties  and  instincts.  Mr.  George  Combe,  during  his  late  visit  to  the  United 
States,  spoke  as  follows,  in  one  of.  his  lectures,  in  relation  to  this  subject: — 

"  Observations  made  by  various  individuals  have  proved  that  there  is  in  man  an  organ 
of  appetite  for  food,  situated  in  the  zygomatic  fossa.  The  stomach  is  to  this  organ  what 
the  eye  is  to  the  sense  of  seeing.  Cut  off  the  communication  between  it  and  ths  brain,  and 
the  appetite  will  be  lost.  A  dog  was  kept  without  food  till  he  was  ravenoirs  with  hun- 
ger ;  the  pneumogastric  nerve  was  then  divided,  and  the  sensation  left  him  at  once.  A 
number  of  cases  have  occurred  in  which  a  gluttonous  appetite  existed  during  life,  and 
these  convolutions  were  found,  after  death,  ulcerated.  Dr.  Caldwell  thinks  the  burning 
desire  of  the  drunkard  to  arise  from  disease  of  this  organ,  and  recommends  it  to  be  treated 
with  bleeding,  cold  water,  quiet,  and  attention  to  diet. 

"  That  this  is  the  organ  of  alimentiveness  has  been  confirmed  by  Vimont,  and  since  com- 
ing to  this  country  I  have  seen  two  strong  proofs  of  it  in  the  collection  of  Dr.  Morton,  of 
Philadelphia  ;  one,  the  skull  of  a  Dutch  admiral  who  died  at  Java  in  consequence  of  ex- 
cessive eating,  in  which  the  organ  is  very  much  developed  ;  but  it  is  still  larger  in  the 
skull  of  a  convict  of  New  South  Wales,  who  inveigled  seven  people  into  the  woods  at 
various  times,  murdered  and  ate  them." 

Mr.  Combe  gives  many  examples  of  enormous  eating,  and  refers  them  all  to  an  inordi- 
nate development  of  the  organ  of  "  Alimentiveness,"  which  he  considers  as  fully  estab- 
lished. 


266  APPENDIX. 


(B.)— Page  11. 
EFFECT  OF  CARBONACEOUS  FOOD  IN  WARM  CLIMATES. 

Dr.  Pereira  truly  remarks,  that  the  "frequent  occurrence  of  disease  among  Europeans, 
who  reside  in  tropical  countries,  is  probably  in  part  owing  to  their  continued  employment 
of  a  dietetical  system  fitted  for  colder  climates."  It  is  one  of  the  functions  of  the  liver  to 
eliminate  carbon  and  hydrogen  from  the  blood,  in  the  form  of  cholesterine  and  resin  of  the 
bile,  and  we  know  that  carbon  is  also  separated  from  the  blood  in  the  lungs,  and  by  the 
skin.  It  is  given  off  by  respiration  combined  with  oxygen,  but  when  separated  by  the 
liver,  it  is  still  in  the  oxydizable  state.  Tiedemann  and  Gmelin,  as  well  as  Autenreith  and 
other  physiologists,  have  directed  attention  to  a  vicarious  action  in  the  functions  of  the 
lungs  and  liver,  respecting  which  Muller  remarks,  that  "  although  it  does  not  appear  that 
the  size  of  the  liver  is,  throughout  the  animal  kingdom,  in  the  inverse  ratio  of  the  size  of 
the  respiratory  organs,  yet  pathological  observations  are  certainly  in  favor  of  the 
ence  of  such  a  relation."  Carbonic  acid  is  also  separated  in  connection  with  lactic  acid, 
lactate  of  ammonia,  and  muriate  of  ammonia,  from  the  skin. 

Dr.  Crawford  proved  by  experiment,  that  less  carbonic  acid  was  evolved  in  proportion 
to  the  height  of  the  temperature  ;  and  it  is  fully  established  that  the  function  of  the  lungs 
is  rendered  inefficient  by  the  rarefaction  of  the  air  by  the  heat.  Supposing  the  function 
of  the  skin  tq  remain  the  same,  it  is 'evident  that  there  must  be  an  increased  excretion  ot 
carbon  from  the  liver,  to  preserve  the  blood  in  that  state  of  purity  which  is  compatible 
with  the  due  preservation  of  health.  Accordingly  Tiedemann  and  Gmelin  maintain  that 
the  increased  secretion  of 'bile  in  tropical  countries  is  required  to  compensate  for  the  di- 
minished purification  of  blood  in  the  lungs. 

Dr.  Edwards  also  found  that  less  carbonic  acid  was  evolved  in  summer  than  in  winter ; 
and  Dr.  Prout  and  Dr.  Fyfe  found  that  the  quantity  of  the  same  was  diminished  by  vege- 
table diet. 

These,  however,  are  but  part  of  the  facts  connected  with  this  subject.  The  state  of  the 
dew-point,  or  the  hygrometric  condition  of  the  air,  has  an  immense  influence  upon  the 
quantity  of  carbonic  acid  eliminated  both  from  the  skin  and  lungs.  From  some  experi- 
ments which  we  instituted  several  months  since,  we  satisfied  ourselves  that  this  condition 
of  the  atmosphere  has  far  more  to  do  in  effecting  changes  in  the  relative  proportions  of 
the  various  constituents  of  the  blood,  and  hence  in  the  promotion  of  health,  or  the  c 
tion  of  disease,  than  the  temperature,  to  which  so  much  has  been  attributed.  When  the 
air  is  nearly  saturated  with  moisture,  causing  that  kind  of  weather  called  close  or  sultry, 
there  is*a  languor  of  the  mind,  a  debility  of  the  muscular  system,  together  with  a  duski- 
ness of  the  skin,  which  proves  that  the  blood  is  not  properly  decarbonized  and  oxygenated. 
These  effects  may  be  illustrated  by  the  influence  of  the  Sirocco,  which  is  an  excessively 
damp  wind,  or  in  other  words,  a  wind  with  a  high  dew-point.*  * 

It  required  but  a  single  step  to  connect  these  facts  with  the  production  of  disease  in 
tropical  climates,  especially  affections  of  the  liver  and  abdon.jnal  organs.  That  there  \v;is 
something  more  than  high  temperature,  or  what  is  vaguely  termed  malaria,  involved  in 
their  causation,  was  very  evident ;  for  in  addition  to  a  multitude  of  other  facts  which  rniztfit 
be  mentioned,  Mr.  Stevens  states  that  in  the  West'  Indies  the  inhabitants  of  the  smallest 
islands, -.which  are  the  driest  and  hottest,  are  not  subject  to  diseases  of  the  liver  and  in- 
creased secretion  of  bile.  Mr.  Hopkins  has  endeavored  to  identify  malaria  with  a  high 
dew-point,  but  they  are  essentially  distinct.  No  one  can  doubt  the  existence  in  some  lo- 
calities of  a  poisonous  iniasm  in  the  atmosphere,  which  gives  rise  to  disease.  A  high 

*  London  and  Edinburgh  Phil.  Mag.,  Feb.,  1839. 


APPENDIX.  267 


dew-point,  or  an  atmosphere  saturated  with  moisture,  doubtless  gives  e  fficiency  to  this 
agent  by  checking  its  elimination  from  the  system,  but  it  acts  chiefly  by  preventing  the 
separation  of  carbon  by  cutaneous  and  pulmonary  transpiration,  tlius  throwing  double 
duty  upon  the  liver,  and  often  greater  than  it  can  duly  discharge.  Hence  arise  conges- 
tions of  this  organ,  and  of  the  abdominal  viscera,  whose  venous  blood  it  receives;  and 
hence  follow  dysenteries,  cholera-morbus,  fevers,  and  a  long  catalogue  of  tropical  diseases. 
We  now  see  the  importance,  in  tropical  climates,  of  cutting 'off  animal  food,  which 
abounds  in  carbon,  and  living  upon  a  moderate  allowance  of  mild  vegetable  diet.  We 
know  several  persons  who  have  resided  for  many  years,  on  the  most  sickly  portions  of 
the  African  coast,  in  the  enjoyment  of  perfect  health,  by  confining  themselves  to  vegeta- 
ble food,  chiefly  rice,  and  avoiding  alcoholic  liquors.  Gen.  Sheldon,  of  Massachusetts, 
a  vegetable-eater,  lived  several  years  in  the  most  sickly  parts  of  the  Southern  United 
States,  with  an  entire  immunity  from  disease,  and  he  states,  that  in  his  opinion,  man  may 
enjoy  perfect  health  in  any  locality,  provided  his  dietetic  and  other  habits  are  correct. 

(C.)— Page  19. 
ANIMAL  FOOD. 

Many  facts  could  be  adduced  to  prove  that  an  exclusive  diet  of  animal  flesh  is  am- 
ply sufficient  for  healthy  nutrition.  Sir  Francis  Head  relates  some  interesting  particulars 
respecting  the  Gauchos,  inhabitants  of  the  Pampas,  in  South  America,  which  have  an  im- 
portant bearing  on  this  question.  After  stating  that  they  often  Continue  on  horseback  day 
after  day,  galloping  over  their  boundless  plains,  under  a  burning  su-n,  and  performing 
labors  almost  of  an  incredible  description,  he  remarks :  "  As  the  constant  food  of  the  Gau- 
chos is  beef  and  water,  his  constitution  is  so  strong,  that  he  is  able  to  endure  great  fatigue, 
and  the  distances  he  will  ride,  and  the  number  of  hours  he  will  remain  on  horseback, 
would  hardly  be  credited."  Sir  Francis  Head  also  brings  his  own  personal  experience  in 
proof  of  the  correctness  of  the  above  statement. 

"  When  I  first  crossed  the  Pampas,"  he  remarks,  "  I  went  with  a  carriage,  and  although 
I  had  been  accustomed  to  riding  all  my  life,  I  could  not  at  all  ride  with  the  Peons,  (drivers 
of  the  carriage,)  and  after  galloping  five  or  six  hours,  was  obliged  to  get  into  the  carriage  ; 
but  after  I  had  been  riding  for  three  or  four  months,  and  had  lived  upon  beef  and  water, 
I  found  myself  in  a  certain  condition,  which  I  can  only  describe  by  saying  that  I  felt  no 
exertion  could  kill  me.  For  a  week  I  could  daily  be  upon  my  horse  before  sunrise,  could 
ride  till  two  or  three  hours  after  sunset,  and  have  really  tired  out  ten  or  twelve  horses. 
This  will  explain  the  immense  distances  which  people  in  South  America  are  said  to  ride, 
which  I  am  confident  could  only  be  done  on  beef  and  water." — (Rough  Notes,  <$fc.,  by  Sir 
Francis  Head,  p.  29.) 

There  are  numerous  facts  of  a  similar  kind  which  might  be  quoted,  but  the  fact  that 
an  exclusive  diet  of  animal  food  is  fully  sufficient  to  sustain  the  physical  nowers,  's  too 
well  established  to  need  further  proof. 

(D.)— Page  26. 
ALCOHOL  AS  ^  SOURCE  OF  ANIMAL  HEAT. 

It  is  a  matter  of  common  observation,  that  alcohol  escapes  from  the  lungs  in  considera- 
ble quantity  in  expiration,  soon  after  it  has  been  taken  into  the  stomach,  and  we  may  be 
permitted  to  doubt  whether  the  negative  experiments  \i  hich  have  hitherto  been  perform- 
ed to  ascertain  its  existence  in  the  perspiration,  urine,  and  intestinal  secretions,  are  suffi- 


268  APPENDIX. 


cient  to  justify  the  conclusion  of  its  absence  from  these  fluids.  From  the  strong  attrac- 
tion which  alcohol  has  for  water,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  it  combines  with  this  fluid 
in  the  substance  of  all  the  tissues  which  it  penetrates,  circulating  as  it  does  through  every 
part  of  the  system,  and  penetrating  to  every  fibre.  Dr.  John  Percy,  a  late  graduate  of  the 
University  of  Edinburgh,  states,  in  his  Prize  Essay,  (London,  1839,)  that  after  poisoning 
dogs  with  alcohol,  he  has  obtained  it  from  distilling  portions  of  the  brain,  urine,  bile,  and 
liver.  There  are  numerous  cases  on  record,  where  alcohol  has  been  detected  in  the  ven- 
tricles of  the  brain,  as  proved  by  inflammability  as  well  as  by  the  sense  of  smell.  (See  Hare 
on  the  Stomach,  6fc.,  pp.  293,  169,  170;  Edin.  Med.  Journal,  vol.  xi.  p.  293;  Bacchus,  p. 
303,  &c.) 

Magendie  detected  spirit  in  the  blood.  In  the  experiments  above  alluded  to,  of  Dr. 
Percy,  a  greater  amount  of  alcohol  was  obtained  from  portions  of  the  brain,  than  from  an 
equal  weight  of  lung,  liver,  or  any  other  organ.  The  Reviewer  of  Liebig's  Animal  Chem- 
istry (British  and  Foreign  Medical  Review,  No.  28,  1842)  seems  to  think  that  this  fact 
may  possibly  explain  the  specific  action  of  alcohol  on  the  nervous  system. 

Moreover,  Millet,  (Mem.  Acad.  Science,  pour  1777,  pp.  221,  360,)  Trousset,  Jurine,  and 
others,  have  shown,  by  their  experiments,  that  carbonic  acid  is  given  off  by  the  skin,  and 
oxygen  absorbed,  as  in  the  lungs.  Jurine  not  only  established  the  general  fact,  but  he 
examined  the  quantity  of  effect  which  is  produced  under  the  various  circumstances  to 
which  the  body  is  exposed,  either  as  influenced  by  external  agents,  or  as  connected  with 
the  different  states  of  the  constitution  ;  and  he  seemed  to  have  proved  that  the  amount 
of  carbonic  acid  was  in  exact  proportion  to  the  activity  of  the  circulation,  and  the  other 
functions  depending  oh  it.  In  confirmation  of  this  doctrine,  it  is  admitted  on  all  hands, 
that  in  cold-blooded  animals  the  skin  possesses  the  power  of  acting  upon  the  air.  In 
some  of  the  lower  tribes  the  lungs  are  entirely  wanting,  yet  they  generate  carbonic  acid, 
and  consume  oxygen,  like  the  most  perfect  animals;  and  Bostock  remarks  that  in  ovipa- 
rous quadrupeds,  which  are  furnisned  with  lungs,  the  effect  produced  upon  the  air  by 
the  external  surface  of  the  body,  is  nearly  equal  to  that  of  the  pulmonary  cavities. — (Phys. 
p.  190,  vol.  2.)  If  carbonic  acid,  then,  be  given  off  by  the  skin,  which  is  now  generally 
admitted,  then  we  may  with  equal  probability  suppose  that  the  oxygen  of  the  air,  combining 
with  the  elements  of  alcohol  in  the  extreme  capillaries,  has  produced  it ;  and  hence  it 
follows,  that  we  have  equal  evidence  that  the  elements  of  alcohol,  in  the  form  of  carbonic 
acid,  escape  from  the  skin,  as  that  they  are  eliminated  through  the  lungs.  If  it  be  objected  that 
carbonic  acid  is  given  off  from  the  skin  as  a  secretion,  it  may  be  replied,  that  there  is  no 
satisfactory  proof  that  such  is  not  the  case  in  the  lungs  also.  The  fact  is,  that  both  the 
skin  and  lungs  give  out  water,  carbonic  acid,  and  saline  and  animal  substances,  through 
the  operation  of  physico-vital  laws,  and  there  can  be  no  question  that  alcohol  is  triven  olF 
in  like  manner.  But  if  we  suppose,  with  Liebig,  that  the  elements  of  alcohol  combine 
with  oxygen,  throughout  the  various  textures  of  the  body,  we  are  not  then  obliged  to 
prove  the  absorption  of  oxygen  from  the  skin,  and  we  may  assume  that  the  carbonic  acid 
and  hydrogen,  which  escape  from  the  cutaneous  surface,  owe  their  origin  to  similar  causes 
as  when  given  off  from  the  lungs.  The  suggestion,  therefore,  that  alcohol  is  burnt  in  the 
lungs,  giving  off  carbonic  acid  and  water,  and  serving  to  support  the  temperature  of  the 
body,  must  be  regarded  as  imperfectly  established,  if  not  contrary  to  positive  observations 
Moreover,  the  opinion  is  advanced  by  Liebig,  in  his  Agricultural  Chemistry,  (Am.  ed.,  p. 
113,)  that  "alcohol,  and  the  volatile  oils  which  are  incapable  of  being  assimilated,  are 
exhaled  through  the  lungs,  and  not  through  the  skin." 

But  admitting  that  Liebig's  present  hypothesis  is  true,  does  the  moderate  use  of  alcohol 
serve  to  protect  the  system  against  the  effects  of  cold,  and  is  such  use  therefore  to  be 


APPENDIX.  269 


recommended  1  Liebig  assumes  that  the  oxygen  of  the  arterial  blood  has  a  stronger  attrac- 
tion for  the  elements  of  alcohol  than  for  the  matter  of  the  tissues,  and  hence  that  the  use 
of  alcohol  puts  a  speedy  limit  to  the  change  of  matter  throughout  certain  parts  of  the 
body,  the  arterial  blood  becoming  venous,  without  the  substance  of  the  muscles  taking 
any  share  in  the  transformation.  " Now  we  observe,"  he  remarks,  "that  the  develop- 
ment of  heat  in  the  body,  after  the  use  of  wine,  increases  rather  than  diminishes,  without 
the  manifestation  of  a  corresponding  amount  of  mechanical  force.  A  moderate  quantity 
of  wine,  in  women  and  children  unaccustomed  to  its  use,  produces  a  diminution  of  the 
force  necessary  for  voluntary  motions.  Weariness,  feebleness  in  the  limbs,  and  drowsiness, 
plainly  show  that  the  force  available  for  mechanical  purposes,  in  other  words,  the  change 
•  of  matter,  has  been  diminished." 

If  this  suggestion  be  wrell  founded,  then  certainly  we  may  conclude,  that  a  slight  in- 
crease of  animal  temperature  would  be  dearly  purchased  at  the  expense  of  weariness, 
muscular  weakness,  and  drowsiness,  which  must  necessarily  follow  the  use  of  alcoholic 
drinks,  on  Liebig's  hypothesis.  Indeed,  his  own  views  and  reasonings  inevitably  lead  to 
the  conclusion,  that  animal  heat  and  strength  will  be  best  supported  by  such  articles  of 
food  as  those  which,  by  the  conversion  of  their  elements  into  the  matter  of  the  tissues,  supply 
the  loss  occasioned  by  molecular  changes,  while  at  the  same  time  they  preserve  the  usual 
degree  of  animal  temperature.  Alcohol  is  not  one  of  these  ;  but  they  belong  to  that  "class 
of  highly  nitrogenized  compounds,  which  are  fully  described  in  the  present  work. 

The  opinion,  that  alcohol  is  useful  in  northern  climates  as  a  preservative  against  the 
effects  of  exposure  to  cold  and  fatigue,  we  hold  to  be  a  popular  error,  and  contrary  to  ex- 
perience. This  agent  excites  the  circulation  temporarily,  but  this  is  quickly  succeeded 
by  a  f.<mse  of  lassitude  and  depression.  By  its  use  the  system  is  deprived  of  that  self- 
resisbng  power,  with  which  it  appears  to  be  endowed  for  extraordinary  occasions,  and 
soon  oinks  under  the  depressing  influence  of  cold.  The  testimony  of  the  Rev.  W.  Scores- 
by,  before  the  Committee  of  the  House  of  Commons  in  1834,  is  conclusive  on  this  subject. 
"  My  principal  experience,"  says  he,  "has  been  in  severely  cold  climates,  and  there  it  is  ob- 
servable that  there  is  a  very  per-nicious  effect  in  the  reaction  after  the  use  of  ardent  spirits." 
u  I  did  not  use  them  myself,  and  I  was  better,  I  conceive,  without  the  use  of  them."  "  I  am 
well  assured  that  such  beverages  as  tea  and  coffee,  or  I  doubt  not  milk  and  water,  are  in 
every  way  superior  both  for  comfort  and  health,  for  persons  exposed  to  the  weather,  or 
other  severity.  Spirits  are  decidedly  injurious  in  cold  climates.  The  men  who  have 
been  assisted  by  such  stimulus,  have  been  the  first  who  were  rendered  incapable  of  duty. 
They  became  perfectly  stupid,  skulked  into  different  parts  of  the  ship  to  get  out  of  the 
way,  and  were  generally  found  asleep.  In  the  case  of  a  storm,  or  other  sudden  difficulty,, 
I  should  most  decidedly  prefer  the  water-drinkers  to  those  who  were  under  the  influence 
of  any  stimulant." 

Sir  John  Ross  also  testifies  to  the  same  effect.  Having,  when  in  the  arctic  regions,,  in 
his  own  person  experienced  the  beneficial  effects  of  abstaining  wholly  from  spirituous 
drinks,  he  proposed  to  his  men  that  they  should  try  the  same  experiment,  which  was 
done  with  the  most  gratifying  results.  He  sums  up  the  result  of  his  observations  in  the 
following  remarks  :  "When  men  under  hard  and  steady  labor  are  given  their  usual  allow- 
ance or  draught  of  grog,  or  a  dram,  they  become  languid  and  faint,  losing  their  strength  in 
reality,  while  they  attribute  that  to  the  continuance  of  their  fatiguing  exertions.  He  who 
will  make  the  corresponding  experiments  on  two  equal  boats'  crews,  rowing  in  a  heavy 
sea,  will  soon  be  convinced  that  the  water-drinkers  will  far  outdo  the  others." 

"There  cannot  be  a  greater  error,"  says  Dr.  Rush,  "than  to  suppose  that  spirituous 
liquors  lessen  the  effects  of  cold  on  the  body.  On  the  contrary,  they  always  render  the 


270  APPENDIX. 


body  more  liable  to  be  affected  and  injured  by  cold.     The  temporary  warmth  they  produce 
is  always  succeeded  by  chilliness." — Med.  Inquiries. 

Numerous  facts  have  been  collected  within  a  few  years  past  to  prove  that,  even  in 
cases  of  extreme  suffering  and  exposure,  the  use  of  alcoholic  drinks  may  not  be  advan- 
tageous. 

Two  or  three  facts  on  this  point  are  all  that  our  space  will  permit  us  to  give.  M  In 
the  winter  of  1796,  a  vessel  was*  wrecked  on  an  island  off  the  coast  of  Massachusetts  ; 
there  were  seven  persons  on  board  :  five  of  them  resolved  to  quit  the  ship  during  the 
night  and  seek  shelter  on  shore.  To  prepare  for  the  attempt,  four  of  them  drank  a  quan- 
tity of  spirits,  the  fifth  drank  none.  They  all  leaped  into  the  water:  one  was  drowned  be- 
fore he  reached  the  shore ;  the  other  four  came  to  land,  and,  in  a  deep  snow  and  piercing 
cold,  directed  their  course  to  a  distant  light.  All  that  drank  spirits  failed,  and  stopped, 
and  froze,  one  after  another ;  the  man  that  drank  none  reached  the  house,  and  about  two 
years  ago  was  still  alive." — (Bacchus,  p.  341.) 

"  A  few  years  ago  a  brig  from  Russia,  laden  with  iron,  ran  aground  upon  a  sand-bank 
near  Newport,  R.  I.  The  master  was  desirous  to  unload  and  get  her  off;  the  weather, 
however,  was  extremely  cold,  and  none  could  be  found  to  undertake  the  task,  as  the  ves- 
sel was  at  a  distance  from  the  shore,  covered  with  ice,  and  exposed  to  the  full  effect  of 
the  wind  and  cold.  An  individual,  a  packet-master  of  Newport,  who  abstained  from 
the  use  of  spirituous  liquors,  at  length  engaged  to  unload  the  brig,  and  procure  his  men 
to  do  the  work.  Six  men  were  employed  in  the  hold,  which  was  full  of  water.  They 
began  the  work  with  the  free  but  temperate  use  of  ardent  spirits,  supposing  they  would 
need  it  then  if  ever  ;  but  after  two  hours  labor  they  all  gave  out,  chilled  through.  After 
having  refreshed  and  warmed  themselves,  they  proceeded  to  make  another  attempt, 
only  cider  through  the  day.  They  now  succeeded  better,  but  still  suffered  much  from 
the  effects  of  the  cold.  On  the  second  day  the  men  consented  to  follow  the  direction  of 
their  employer,  and  drank  nothing  but  milk  porridge,  made  rich,  and  taken  as  hot  as  the 
stomach  would  bear  it.  Although  the  weather  was  equally  as  severe  as  before,  they  wnv, 
after  this  change  in  their  diet,  enabled  to  continue  their  work  from  four  to  seven  hours  at 
a  time,  and  then  came  up  from  it  not  at  all  chilled.  With  this  simple  beverage,  handed 
round  every  half  hour,  they  continued  their  work  from  day  to  day,  with  not  one  drop  of 
intoxicating  liquor,  until  the  iron  was  all  handed  out  and  brought  on  shore.  Not  one  of 
them  had  a  finger  frozen." — (Bacchus,  p.  340.) 

In  the  winter  of  1825,  two  vessels  were  coming  into  the  harbor  of  New  York  during 
an  extremely  inclement  night,  the  temperature  being  several  degrees  below  the  freezing 
point.  The  captain  of  one  of  the  vessels  supplied  his  crew  with  warm  alcoholic  drinks 
during  their  exposure,  while  that  of  the  other  dealt  out  nothing  but  hot  coffee  to  his  mon. 
The  result  was,  that  on  arriving  the  next  morning,  a  large  proportion  of  the  crew  of  the 
former  vessel  were  severely  frost-bitten,  while  that  of  the  latter  wholly  escaped,  not  a  sin- 
gle man  having  suffered  any  injury  from  the  cold.  These  facts  were  published  in  the 
New  York  papers  at  the  time,  and  are  doubtless  within  the  recollection  of  many  of  our 
readers.  For  numerous  facts  of  a  similar  kind,  see  "Bacchus,"  Am  edit  chap.  xvi. 

As  to  the  ordinary  and  dietetic  use  of  spirituous  drinks,  we  fully  coincide  in  the  follow- 
ing opinion  of  Prof.  A.  T.  Thomson  :— 

«« It  may  reasonably  be  asked,  of  what  benefit  is  even  the  temperate  use  of  ardent 
spirits  to  a  healthful  individual,  who  requires  no  additional  excitement  either  of  his  men- 
tal or  his  corporea/  energies?  To  this  question  no  satisfactory  reply  can  be  offered  ;  and 
notwithstanding  the  universal  propensity  of  the  human  species  for  intoxication,  and  the 
ingenuity  exercised  in  obtaining  means  to  effect  it,  yet  ardent  spirits  can  be  justly  regard- 


APPENDIX.  271 


ed  in  no  other  point  of  view  than  as  either  a  medicine  or  a  poison." — (Thomson,  Mat 
ATa£,voL2,  p.  124.) 


(E.)-Page  27. 
FORMATION  OF  FAT  FROM  SUGAR  AND  STARCH. 

That  sugar  is  highly  nutritive,  is  shown  by  a  variety  of  facts.  "  During  the  sugar 
season  in  the  West  Indies,"  says  Wright,  (Med.  Plants  of  Jamaica^)  "  every  negro  on 
the  plantations,  and  every  animal,  even  the  dogs,  grow  fat."  The  remark,  however,  of 
Liebig,  that  "  fat  does  not  exist  in  maize  ready  formed,"  has  been  shown  by  Dumas  to  be 
incorrect. 

Views  of  Dumas  as  to  the  Production  of  Fat. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Academy  of  Sciences,  at  Paris,  on  the  24th  of  October,  1842,  M. 
Dumas  stated,  "  that  he  and  M.  Payen  had  been  for  some  time  engaged  in  calculating  the 
fattening  power  of  maize.  Agriculturists,"  he  added,  "have  known  for  sometime  that 
a  bushel  of  maize,  weighing  from  22  to  24  pounds,  furnishes  two  pounds  of  oil. 

"Accurate  experiments  have  informed  us  that  maize  contains,  in  truth,  nine  per  cent. 
of  a  yellow  oil,  100  grammes  =  three  ounces  and  a  half,  which  I  have  now  the  honor  to 
lay  before  the  Academy ;  so  that,  in  eating  26  pounds  of  maize,  a  goose  receives  2-34 
pounds  of  fatty  matter.  It  is  not  astonishing,  therefore,  that  'the  animal  should  furnish 
3  858  pounds,  when  we  reckon  that  which  it  contained  originally.  Hay  contains,  in  the 
state  usually  furnished  to  cattle,  about  2  per  cent,  of  fatty  matter. 

"  Our  experiments  prove  that  cattle  whilst  fattening,  and  milch-cows,  always  contain 
less  fat  than  the  elements  which  they  have  consumed.  With  respect  to  the  latter,  how- 
ever, the  butter  represents  very  nearly  the  proportion  of  fatty  principle  contained  in  the 
food  of  the  cow ;  at  least,  so  far  as  those  elements  are  concerned  which  we  have  at  pres- 
ent studied. 

"  Agricultural  observations  and  chemical  analyses  agree  in  proving  that  the  milch-cow 
is  the  most  accurate  and  most  economical  means  of  extracting  the  azotized  and  fatty 
matters  which  are  contained  in  pasturages."— (Comptes  Rend.  Oct.  24,  1842.) 

Itiebig's  Reply  to  Dumas. 

Since  the  publication  of  the  above,  Prof.  Liebig  has  communicated  a  paper  to  the 
Chemical  Society,  which  is  published  in  the  "London  and  Edinburgh  Philosophical  Jour- 
nal" for  July,  1843,  from  which  we  make  the  following  extracts : — 

"According  to  my  statement,  the  fat  originates  from  the  non-nitrogenous  constituents 
of  the  food  ;  let  us  suppose  from  sugar,  then  this  must  have  undergone  a  chemical 
change  in  conformity  with  my  proposition.  The  formation  of  wax  from  honey,  which 
contains  none,  in  the  body  of  the  bee,  of  which,  from  the  experiments  of  M.  Grundlach 
of  Cassel,  there  can  be  no  doubt,  appears  to  remove  every  objection  to  the  possibility  of 
such  an  action  taking  place.  I  never  had  the  least  idea  of  defending  in  my  book  the 
opnuon,  or  even  of  expressing  it,  that  the  fat  which  was  taken  in  the  food  of  animals  did 
not  contribute  to  increase  the  quantity  of  fat  in  their  bodies;  but  I  was  not  aware  of  any 
supply  of  butter  in  the  grass  which  is  daily  consumed  by  cows,  or  of  tallow,  of  lard,  or 
goose-fat  in  potatoes,  barley,  and  oats  ;  in  the  analyses  of  these  substances  as  at  present 
given,  they  contain  only  waxy  sujstances,  and  that  in  such  small  quantity,  that  I  consider 
the  formation  of  fat  could  not  be  attributed  to  it. 
,  "  These  ideas  concerning  the  origin  of  fat  in  animal  bodies  took  a  new  direction  from 


272  APPENDIX. 


a  note  which  M.  Dumas  appended  in  the  Annales  de  Chimie,  (New  Series,  vol.  iv.  p.  208,) 
to  my  treatise  on  the  nitrogenous  food  of  the  vegetable'  kingdom ;  in  this  note  M.  Dumas 
says,  *M.  Liebig  is  of  opinion  that  graminivorous  animals  produce  fat  out  of  sugar  and 
starch,  while  MM.  Dumas  and  Boussingault  consider  it  as  a  fixed  rule,  that  animals,  of  what- 
ever kind,  produce  neither  fat  nor  any  other  alimentary  substance ;  that  they  receive 
from  the  vegetable  kingdom  all  their  aliments,  whether  it  be  sugar,  starch,  or  fat/ 

"  Were  the  proposition  of  M.  Liebig  founded  upon  fact,  the  general  formula  of  chem- 
ical equivalents  of  both  kingdoms,  as  defined  by  MM.  Dumas  and  Boussingault,  would 
be  false.  But  the  Commission  on  Gelatine  has  dispelled  all  doubt  that  the  animals  which 
eat  fat  are  the  only  ones  in  which  fat  is  found  to  accumulate  in  the  tissues." 

"The  origin  of  fatty  compounds  in  animal  bodies  has,  through  this  note,  become  a 
question  of  dispute.  . 

"  The  food  which,  according  to  the  experience  of  physicians,  has  a  decided  influence 
in  the  formation  of  fat  in  animal  bodies,  is  that  which  is  richest  in  starch,  sugar,  and 
other  substances  of  a  similar  constitution. 

"  Rice,  Indian  corn,  beans,  peas,  linseed,  potatoes,  beets,  are  used  in  husbandry  in  large 
quantities  with  gneat  effect  for  fattening,  that  is,  for  the  increase  of  flesh  and  fat  In 
Bavaria  beer  is  used  as  a  stimulating  food  for  the  increase  of  fat. 

"  Whether  much  or  little  importance  may  be  ascribed  to  the  universal  experience  of 
husbandry,  it  is  certain  that  animals  which  are  fed  upon  these  different  substances,  under 
certain  conditions^  (abundance  of  food,  little  exercise,  high  temperature,  &c.,)  after  some 
time  become  much  fatter  than  before.  This  fat  proceeds  from  the  food.  Rice,  peas,  and 
beans,  have  been  carefully  analyzed  by  different  chemists.  Braconnot  found  in  Carolina 
rice  0-13  per  cent,  of  oil,  in  Piedmont  rice,  0-25  per  cent. ;  Vogel  found  in  rice  1-05  per 
cent. 

"  According  to  these  analyses,  the  organism  received  from  1,000  Ibs.  of  Carolina  rice 
1-3  Ibs.,  or  2-5  Ibs.,  according  to  Vogel,  10$  Ibs.  of  fat. 

"Peas  contain,  according  to  Braconnot,  1-20  of  a  substance  soluble  in  ether,  which  lie 
calls  leaf-green,  (chlorophyll.)  The  bean  of  the  Phaseolus  vulgaris,  according  to  the  same 
chemist,  contains  070  of  fat,  soluble  in  ether ;  from  linseed  1-3  per  cent. 

"For  every  1,000  Ibs.  of  peas  or  beans,  the  organism  receives,  according  to  Braconnot, 
12  Ibs.,  according  to  Fresenius,  21  Ibs.  of  fat,  and  from  as  many  beans,  only  7  Ibs.  of 
fat 

"Beer,  as  far  as  I  am  aware  of,  contains  no  fat  Fresenius  obtained  from  the  pulp  of 
the  beet-root  0-67  per  cent,  of  a  substance  soluble  in  ether. 

'  "  According  to  further  direct  examinations  made  in  our  laboratory,  1,000  parts  of  dried 
potatoes  gave  3-05  parts  of  a  substance  soluble  in  ether.  This  substance  possessed  all 
the  properties  of  resin  or  wax ;  we  will,  however,  assume  that  potatoes'  contain  T/^  of 
their  weight  of  fat.  Three  one-year-old  pigs,  fattened  with  1,000  Ibs.  peas  and  6,825  Ibs. 
potatoes,  fresh  boiled,  which  are  equal  to  1638  Ibs.  of  dried  potatoes,  increased  in  weight 
in  13  weeks  from  80  to  90  Ibs.  each.  A  fully  fattened  pig  averages  in  weight  from  160 
Ibs.  to  170  Ibs.,  and  after  killing  the  fat  weighs  from  50  Ibs.  to  55  Ibs.  The  three  pigs 
have  consumed  21  Ibs.  of  fat,  contained  in  the  1,000  Ibs.  peas,  and  6  Ibs.  in  the  1,638  Ibs. 
of  potatoes  ;  together,  therefore,  27  Ibs.  Their  bodies,  however,  contained  from  150  Ibs. 
to  165  Ibs.  of  fat.  There  is  an  increase  of  from  123  to  135  Ibs.  more  fat  than  the  food 
contained.  A  pig  one  year  old  weighs  from  75  Ibs.  to  80  Ibs. ;  suppose  it  to  contain  18 
Ibs.  of  fat,  there  still  remains,  leaving  entirely  out  of  the  question  the  matters  soluble  in 
ether  contained  in  the  excrements,  69  Ibs.  to  74  Ibs.  of  fat ;  the  production  of  which  in 
the  organization  cannot  be  doubted,  and  whose  formation  remains  to  be  accounted  for. 


APPENDIX.  273 


"  M.  Boussingault's  examinations  concerning  the  influence  of  food  on  the  quantity  and 
composition  of  the  milk  of  the  cow,  furnish  other  more  important  grounds  for  the  opinion 
that  animals  produce  fat  out  of  certain  food,  which  is  neither  fat  itself,  .nor  contains 
fat." — (Annal  de  Cldm.  et  de  Phys.  v.  71,  p.  65.) 

"M.  Boussingault's  experiments  correspond  with  universal  experience,  and  I  believe  are 
to  be  relied  upon  ;  it  is,  therefore,  the  more  inconceivable  to  me  that  he  has  placed  him- 
self by  the  side  of  those  who  support  the  opposite  opinion. 

**  A  cow  was  fed  at  Bechelbrunn  during  eleven  days  upon  daily  rations  of  38  kilo- 
grammes of  potatoes,  and  therefore  in  eleven  days  upon  418  kil.,  also  3'75  kil.  chopped 
straw  ;  in  eleven  days,  41'25  kil.  In  these  eleven  days  she  gave  54'61  litres  of  milk, 
which  contained  22'84  gram,  of  butter.  As  418  kil.  of  fresh  potatoes  are  equal  to  96*97 
kil.  of  dry  potatoes,  (potatoes  contain,  according  to  M.  Boussingault,  76'8  water,  and  23-2 
solid  matter,)  further,  as  1000  gram,  potatoes  contain  only  305  gram,  of  soluble  matter, 
and  the  straw,  according  to  experiments  made  here,  contains  only  0*832  per  cent,  of  a 
substance  soluble  in  ether,  (a  crystalline  wax,)  the  cow  had,  therefore,  in  eleven  days 
consumed  291 -j- 343  gram.  =634  gram,  of  substance,  soluble  in  ether.  There  was 
contained  in  this  milk,  however,  2284  gram,  of  fat. 

"In  another  case,  in  a  trial  carried  on  in  winter,  the  daily  rations  of  the  cow  were  for  a 
long  time  15  kil.  of  potatoes  and  7|  kil.  of  hay.  The  quantity  of  milk  amounted  in  six 
days  to  64*92  litres.  These  64'92  litres  of  milk  contained  3116  gram,  of  butter.  In  six 
days  the  cow  consumed  90  kil.  of  fresh  potatoes,  equal  to  19-88  of  dried  ;  in  the  same  time 
45  kil.  of  hay  were  consumed.  Suppose  that  the  19'88  kil.  of  potatoes  supplied  to  the 
cow  contained  60  gram,  of  fat,  the  other  3056  gram,  of  butter  must  have  originated  from 
the  45  kil.  of  hay.  According  to  this,  hay  must  contain  nearly  7  per  cent,  of  fat.  This  is 
easily  ascertained  by  experiment. 

"From  hay  of  the  best  quality,  in  the  state  in  which  it  is  consumed  by  the  cows,  l-56 
per  cent,  of  a  substance  soluble  was  obtained  in  the  Giessen  laboratory.  Taking  the 
hay  to  contain  l-56  per  cent,  of  butter,  the  45  kil.  of  hay  could  supply  the  cow  with 
only  6*91  gram. ;  there  remains,  therefore,  to  discover  whence  the  other  23'65  gram, 
of  butter  originated,  which  M.  Boussingault  found  in  the  milk.  *  In  a  note  which  M. 
Dumas  has  appended  to  a  communication  of  M.  Romanet  (Comptes  Rendus  de  VAcad. 
des  Sciences,  24  Oct.)  the  following  remarks  are  made  : — 

"  *  Hay  contains,  in  the  state  in  which  it  is  consumed  by  the  cow,  nearly  2  per  cent,  of 
fatty  matter.  We  will  show  that  the  ox  which  is  fattened,  and  the  milch-cow,  furnish  a 
smaller  quantity  of  fatty  material  than  the  fodder  contains.  As  regards  the  mibh-oow  in. 
particular,  the  butter  in  the  milk  corresponds  very  nearly  with  the  quantity  of  fatty 
material  contained  in  its  food ;  at  least,  as  far  as  in  that  of  the  food  we  have  yet  studied, 
namely,  hay  and  Indian  corn,  which  last  the  cow  does  not  usually  obtain  as  food.' 

"After  the  foregoing  facts,  which  I  could  considerably  multiply,  it  will  be  very  difficult 
for  MM.  Dumas  and  Payen  to  prove  that  the  cow,  for  instance,  furnishes  from  the  fatty 
matter  contained  in  the  food  only  the  corresponding  quantity  of  butter.  -The  proof  of 
the  supposition,  besides,  that  animals  receive  the  fat  in  their  food  in  the  same  state  as  it 
is  found  in  their  bodies,  is  impossible.  Nothing  is  easier  to  decide  than  the  question 
whether  or  not  the  butter  which  the  cow  produces  is  contained  as  butter  in  the  hay. 

"Hay  gives,  after  exhaustion  by  ether,  a  green  solution,  and  on  evaporation  a  green 
residue,  with  a  strong  agreeable  smell  of  hay,  which  possesses  no  properties  character- 
istic of  fatty  substances.  This  green  residue  consists  of  various  substances,  of  which 
one  is  of  a  waxy  or  resinous  nature,  known  under  the  name  of  chlorophylle ;  another  in- 
gredient of  the  same  crystallizes  from  a  concentrated  ethereal  solution  in  minute  laminae, 

18 


274  APPENDIX. 


and  is  the  crystalline  wix  which  Proust  obtained  from  plums  and  cherries,  from  the 
leaves  of  cabbages,  from  a  species  of  Iris,  and  from  grasses,  and  which  is  probably  iden- 
tical with  the  wax  that  Aveguin  collected  in  such  large  quantities  from  the  leaves  of  the 
sugar-cane.  *M.  Dumas  has  analyzed  this  substance,  and  found  it  to  differ,  both  in  com- 
position and  properties,  from  any  of  the  known  fats  ;  in  consequence  of  which  he  felt 
justified  in  giving  the  name  cerosine  to  this  substance.  M.  Fresenius  obtained,  by  means 
of  ether,  from  straw,  and  M.  Jagle,  of  Strasburg,  from  the  fresh  plant,  Fumaria  Officinalit, 
by  means  of  alcohol,  a  crystalline  wax,  very  similar  to  cerosine.  The  occurrence  of  wax 
in  the  vegetable  kingdom  is  very  extensive,  generally  accompanied  by  chlorophylls. 

"  Margaric  or  stearic  acid,  the  principal  ingredient  of  the  fat  of  animals,  is  neither 
found  in  the  seeds  of  corn,  nor  in  herbs,  nor  in  roots,  which  serve  as  food.  It  is  evident 
that  if  the  ingredients  of  the  food  soluble  in  ether  are  convertible  into  fat,  margarine  and 
gtearine  must  be  formed  out  of  wax  or  chlorophylle." 

M.  Liebig  then  goes  on  to  prove,  that  the  chlorophylle  is  given  out  from  the  body  un- 
changed ;  and  that  the  excrements  of  the  cow 'contain  as  much  of  the  substances  soluble 
in  ether  as  has  been  consumed  in  the  food,  and  consequently  that  these  articles  can 
have  no  share  in  producing  butter;  but  that  this  is  produced  from  the  other  ingredients 
of  the  food.  M.  Liebig  states  that  this  opinion  of  Dumas  is  a  necessary  consequence  of 
the  exclusive  hypothesis,  that  animals  produce  in  their  organism  no  substances  serving 
as  food,  but  that  they  receive  all  sustenance,  whether  sugar,  starch,  or  fat,  from  th<> 
table  kingdom.  These  distinguished  chemists,  however,  agree  in  relation  to  the  sub- 
stances which  serve  for  the  formation  of  blood. 

"In  regard  to  the  principle  of  M.  Dumas,"  says  Liebig,  "that  the  organism  of  an  ani- 
mal is  not  able  to  produce  any  substance  serving  as  food,  it  is  equivalent  to  saying  that 
the  organism  produces  nothing,  but  transforms  it ;  that  no  combination  takes  place  in  its 
body,  when  the  materials  are  not  present  by  means  of  which  the  metamorphosis  originates. 
Thus  the  formation  of  sugar  of  milk  in  the  bodies  of  carnivorous  animals  cannot  take 
place,  for  dog's  milk,  according  to  Simon,  contains  no  sugar  of  milk.  Thus  also  fat  can- 
not be  produced  in  their  organism,  because,  besides  fat,  they  do  not  consume  any  non- 
nitrogenous  food.  But  starch,  gum,  and  sugar  contain,  even  with  their  large  quantity  of 
oxygen,  all  the  ingredients  of  fatty  bodies;  and  the  formation  of  butter  in  tho  body  of  the 
cow,  and  of  wax  in  that  of  the  bee,  leave  hardly  any  doubt  that  sugar,  starch,  gum,  or 
pectine,  furnish  the  carbon  for  the  formation  of  the  butter  or  of  the  wax. 

"  It  is  further  certain  that  the  brain,  the  nerves,  the  blood,  the  faeces,  and  the  yellow  of 
the  egg  contain  a  substance  in  considerable  quantity,  with  a  far  smaller  proportion  of 
oxygen  than  the  known  fatty  acids,  a  substance  which  has  not  hitherto  been  found  in  the 
food  of  graminivorous  animals.  The  formation  of  cholesterine  from  fat  cannot  be  sup- 
posed without  a  separation  of  oxygen  or  of  carbonic  acid  and  water ;  it  must  be  d< 
from  a  substance  far  richer  in  oxygen,  in  consequence  of  a  process  of  decomposition  or 
metamorphosis,  which,  applied  to  the  case  of  starch  or  sugar,  explains  their  conversion 
into  fat  in  the  simplest  manner."— (Ed.  and  Lond.  Phil  Mag.,  July,  1843,  p.  25-6.) 


(F.)— Page  28. 
USES  OF  FAT  IN  THE  ANIMAL  ECONOMY. 

The  hypothesis  of  Liebig,  that  fat  does  not  serve  for  the  renovation  of  any  of  the 
animal  tissues,  requires  further  proof. ,  Muller  states  that  the  use  of  the  fat  consists  part- 
ly in  contributing  to  preserve  the  proportions  of  the  external  form,  and  partly  in  protect- 


APPENDIX.  275 


ing  the  internal  parts  by  virtue  of  its  being  a  bad  conductor  of  caloric ;  but  that  it  also 
serves  as  a  deposit  of  nutriment,  which,  during  fasting,  and  also  during  wasting  of  the 
body,  is  again  easily  dissolved  by  being  united  with  other  animal  matters,  or  by  being  con- 
verted into  a  saponaceous  state,  and  having  thus  again  entered  the  circulation,  is  applied 
to  the  formation  of  o'Jier  organic  compounds.  When  food  is  withheld,  as  in  the  case  of 
hybernating  animals,  fat  is  absorbed  and  carried  into  the  blood,  where  it  exists  in  a  free 
state,  and  we  have  detected  it  under  these  circumstances  in  considerable  quantity  ;  in  one 
instance  it  abounded  to  that  extent,  as  to  give  the  blood  the  appearance  of  milk,  on  stand- 
ing a  few  minutes.  We  also  have  observed  the  same  phenomenon  in  a  patient  laboring 
under  violent  hepatic  disease.  In  a  few  cases  we  have  found  fat  in  a  fluid  state  effused 
into  the  abdominal  cavity;  also  into  the  intestinal  canal,  where  death  had  been  occasioned 
by  inflammation  of  some  of  the  abdominal  viscera.  The  experiments  of  Dumas  seem  to 
prove  that  fat  exists  to  some  extent  ready  formed  in  the  food,  that  it  is  absorbed  by  the  chy- 
liferous  vessels  and  carried  into  the  blood,  and  thence  deposited  in  the  cellular  tissue,  as  well 
as  in  every  part  of  the  animal  economy,  in  small  quantity.  But  all  blood  contains  more 
or  less  fat ;  generally  about  5  per  cent.  Prout  has  described  oil  or  fat  as  one  of  the  three 
great  staminal  principles  from  which  all  organized  bodies  are  essentially  constituted,  and 
states  that  it  exists,  under  an  infinite  variety  of  forms,  both  in  vegetables  and  animals. 
Elliotson  also  remarks,  that  "vegetables  contain  fatty  substances,  volatile  as  well  as  fixed." 
(Physiology,  p.  302,  vol.  1.)  The  same  author  remarks,  that  "fat  nourishes  the  body, 
when  food  cannot  be  procured  or  cannot  be  assimilated."  Although  it  may  not  be  capa- 
ble of  demonstration,  we  have  no  doubt  of  the  correctness  of  Prout's  assertion,  that  fat 
may  be  converted  into  most,  if  not  all,  of  the  matters  necessary  for  the  existence  of  ani- 
mal bodies.  Though  it  contains  no  nitrogen,  is  it  not  possible  that  this  may  be  obtained 
from  the  decomposition  of  the  tissues,  and  thus,  by  recombining  with  the  elements  of  fat, 
form  not  only  the  excretory  matters,  but  also  the  substance  of  the  solid  tissues  ]  There 
are  some  facts  which  render  it  probable  that  alcohol,  under  some  circumstances,  forms 
fat.  Spirit  drinkers,  it  is  well  known,  are  nof  invariably  lean;  some  of  them,  though  un- 
able to  take  or  retain  but  very  small  quantities  of  food,  being  exceedingly  fat  and  cor- 
pulent. We  lately  noticed  this,  particularly  in  the  case  of  a  notorious  gin-drunkard, 
whose  appetite  and  digestive  powers  had  long  since  failed  him  ;  but  in  whose  cellular 
membrane  we  found,  on  post-mortem  examination,  a  deposit  of  fat  nearly  two  inches  in 
thickness. 

When  we  consider  that  the  composition  of  human  fat  is, 

Carb.    .    .    79  Hyd.     .     .     11  Oxygen    .     .    9  per  cent, 

and  of  Alcohol  "          .     .     52  "        .     .     13  "         .     .  34        " 

it  may  be  difficult,  perhaps,  to  conceive  how  such  a  transformation  of  elements  takes 
place ;  but  yet,  if  we  adopt  the  opinion  that  fat  is  ever  formed  in  the  system,  out  of  the 
elementary  principles  contained  in  different  articles  of  food,  it  is  as  easy  to  conceive  how 
it  may  be  produced  from  alcohol,  as  from  other  substances,  whose  chemical  composition 
bears  no  closer  resemblance  to  fat  than  that  of  alcohol  does.  We  have  no  doubt  that,  by 
the  present  researches  of  Liebig  and  his  followers,  this  and  other  kindred  subjects  will 
soon  be  better  understood. 


.  (F  2.)— Page  34. 
IRON  IN  THE  BLOOD. 
The  remark  of  Scherer,  quoted  by  our  author,  that  the  presence  of  iron  is  rot  necessary 
to  the  color  of  the  blood,  is  undoubtedly  erroneous.     Berzelius  found  that  the  ashes  of 


276  APPENDIX. 


the  coloring  matter  amount  to  1^-or  1$  per  cent,  of  the  weight  of  the  dried  coloring 
matter,  and,  in  the  blood  of  the  calf,  to  2-2  per  cent.  For  example,  from  400  grains  of 
dried  coloring  /natter,  he  obtained  five  grains  of  ashes,  which  were  composed  of 

Oxide  of  iron 50-0 

Sulphate  of  iron 

Subphosphate  of  lime 6-0 

Pure  lime 20-0 

Carbonic  acid  and  loss      .                          ....  16-5 

100-0     . 

The  average  result  of  Berzelius's  experiments  is,  that  the  coloring  matter  contains 
rather  more  than  one  half  per  cent,  of  its  weight  of  metallic  iron.  According  to  Lecannu, 
however,  the  ashes  of  the  red  pure  coloring  matter  obtained  by  his  new  process  from 
human  blood  contain  10  per  cent,  of  oxide  of  iron. 

Now  Engelhardt  has  shown  that  a  solution  of  the  coloring  matter  of  the  blood  in  water, 
when  impregnated  with  sulphureted  hydrogen,  after  a  time  loses  its  color,  becoming  first 
violet,  then  green.  This  is  exactly  the  effect  which  the  same  gas  has  on  iron,  and  the 
experiment,  therefore,  seems  to  prove  that  this  metal  contributes  to  the  production  of  the 
red  color.  (Muller.)  As  iron  is  not  extracted  from  the  blood  by  muriatic  and  other  acids, 
which  have  a  great  affinity  for  metallic  oxides,  but  none  for  the  metals  themselves,  Ber- 
zelius  considers  it  probable  that  the  iron  exists  in  the  blood  in  the  metallic  state,  and  not 
in  the  state  of  an  oxide,  although,  as  Muller  remarks,  there  is  no  analogous  instance 
known  of  a  quinary  combination  of  a  metal  with  nitrogen,  carbon,  hydrogen,  and 
oxygen. 

Mr.  Rose,  however,  agrees  with  Liebig  in  opinion,  that  the  iron  exists  in  the  blood  as 
an  oxide,  combined  with  animal  matter,  and  has  detailed  a  series  of  experiments  (/Vr- 
gendorfs  Ann.  vii.  81)  to  prove  that  such  is  the  fact.  Chemists  are,  therefore,  divided 
in  opinion  on  this  point:  as  facts  appear  to  be  equally  balanced  on  either  side,  further 
researches  are  perhaps  needed  before  the  question  can  be  considered  as  fully  settled. 
Gmelino  pposes  the  view  that  the  red  color  of  the  blood  is  principally  owing  to  iron,  but 
admits  that  it  exists  in  the  metallic  state,  combined  with  nitrogen,  carbon,  oxygen,  and 
hydrogen  in  the  coloring  matter. 


(G.)— Page  36. 
SALT  AS  A  CONSTITUENT  OF  THE  BLOOD. 

Liebig  has  well  remarked,  that  the  presence  of  free  muriatic  acid  in  the  stomach,  and 
that  of  soda  in  the  blood,  prove,  beyond  all  doubt,  the  necessity  of  common  salt  for  the 
organic  processes ;  but  the  quantities  of  soda  required  by  animals  of  different  classes  to 
support  the  vital  processes  are  very  unequal. 

"  If  we  suppose,"  he  adds,  "  that  a  given  amount  of  blood,  considered  as  a  compound 
of  soda,  passes  in  the  body  of  a  carnivorous  animal,  in  consequence  of  the  change  of  mat- 
ter, into  a  new  compound  of  soda,  namely,  the  bile,  we  must  assume,  that  in  the  normal 
condition  of  health,  the  proportion  of  soda  in  the  blood  is  amply  sufficient  to  form  bile 
with  the  products  of  transformation.  The  soda  which  has  been  used  in  the  vital  pro- 
cesses, and  any  excess  of  soda,  must  be  expelled  in  the  form  of  a  salt,  after  being  sepa- 
rated from  the  blood  by  the  kidneys. 

"  Now  if  it  be  true  that,  in  the  body  of  an  herbivorous  animal,  a  much  larger  quantity  of 
bile  is  produced  than  corresponds  to  the  amount  of  blood  formed  or  transformed  in  the 
vital  processes— if  the  greater  part  of  the  bile  in  this  case  proceeds  from  the  non-azotized 


APPENDIX.  277 


constituents  of  the  food,  then  the  soda  of  the  blood,  which  has  been  formed  into  organized 
tissue,  (assimilated  or  metamorphosed,)  cannot  possibly  suffice  for  the  supply  of  the  daily 
secretion  of  bile.  The  soda,  therefore,  of  the  bile  of  the  herbivora  must  be  supplied  di- 
rectly in  the  food  :  their  organism  must  possess  the  power  of  applying  directly  to  the  for- 
mation of  bile  all  the  compounds  of  soda  present  in  the  food,  and  decomposable  by  the 
organic  process.  All  the  soda  of  the  animal  body  evidently  proceeds  from  the  food,  but 
the  food  of  the  carnivora  contains,  at  most,  only  the  amount  of  soda  necessary  to  the 
formation  of  blood  ;  and  in  most  cases,  among  animals  of  this  class,  we  may  assume 
that  only  as  much  soda  as  corresponds  to  the  proportion  employed  to  form  the  blood,  is 
expelled  in  the  urine.  When  the  carnivora  obtain  in  their  food  as  much  soda  as  suffices 
for  the  production  of  their  blood,  an  equal  amount  is  excreted  in  their  urine  ;  when  the 
food  contains  less,  a  part  of  that  which  would  otherwise  be  excreted  is  retained  by  the 
organism.  All  these  statements  are  unequivocally  confirmed  by  the  composition  of  the 
urine  in  these  different  classes  of  animals." — (See  Liebig's  Organic  Chemistry,  pp. 
163,  4,  5.) 


(H.)— Page  39. 
WATER  AS  AN  ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLE. 

It  has  been  abundantly  shown  by  Liebig,  that  water  contributes  to  the  greater  part  of 
the  transformations  in  the  body.  For  different  "  Formulas,"  showing  this,  the  reader  may 
consult  the  American  Edition,  (pp.  136,  140,  141,  142,  148,  153,  154,  155,  156,  157,  159, 
180,  181,  &c.)  The  spirit  of  dietetical  reform  has,  however,  been  carried  so  far  of  late, 
that  some  devotees,  if  not  martyrs  of  abstinence,  have  questioned  whether  even  water 
was  necessary  to  man,  and  have  accordingly  set  to  work  to  settle  it  by  experiments  in 
their  own  persons.  Mr.  Alcott  states  that  he  has  succeeded  in  abstaining  entirely  from 
drink  for  more  than  a  year,  and  during  the  whole  period  has  not  experienced  the  sensa- 
tion of  thirst  more  than  two  or  three  times,  and  then  after  copious  perspiration  from 
working  in  hot  weather.  But  during  this  whole  period  his  diet  consisted  wholly  of  vege- 
tables, chiefly  of  a  succulent  kind,  and  it  is  probable  that  he  swallowed  as  much  fluid  in 
this  form  as  he  would  have  done  had  he  lived  as  people  generally  do.  Others  have  tried 
the  same  experiment,  and  found  that  with  food  of  the  above  description  they  seldom  felt 
thirst.  These  facts  coincide  with  the  statement  of  Blumenbach,  that  "although  thirst  is  a 
violent  desire,  drink  appears  not  very  necessary  to  life  and  health;  for  many  warm- 
blooded animals — mice,  quails,  parrots,  &c. — do  not  drink  at  all ;  and  some  individuals  of 
the  human  species  have  lived  in  perfect  health  and  strength  without  tasting  liquids." — 
Sauvages  mentions  a  member  of  the  Academy  of  Toulose  who  never  thirsted,  and  passed 
whole  months  of  the  hottest  summer  without  drinking;  and  a  woman  who  passed  40 
days  without  liquids  or  thirst.  The  average  amount  of  solid  and  fluid  aliment  taken  into 
the  system  in  24  hours  by  a  healthy  adult,  is  about  6  pounds;  but  as  it  appears  by  ana- 
lyses in  another  part  of  this  work  that  vegetable  food  contains,  on  an  average,  about  5-6ths 
of  water,  the  vegetable-eater  swallows  five  pounds  of  fluid  daily,  which  is  sufficient  for 
all  the  demands  of  the  system. 

That  fluid  must  be  taken  in  considerable  quantity  in  some  form,  will  not  be  doubted 
when  we  reflect  that  the  average  amount  of  water  given  off  from  the  skin  and  lungs  in 
24  hours  is  about  40  ounces,  and  that  this  contains  foreign  matters  which  cannot  be  re- 
tained in  the  blood  without  injury  to  the  health.  Were  no-t  this  loss  regularly  supplied 
by  the  ingestion  of  liquid,  either  as  food  or  drink,  the  blood  would  speedily  become  so 


278  APPENDIX. 

thick  as  to  be  unfit  for  circulation,  as  in  Asiatic  cholera.  The  absence  of  thirst  shows 
conclusively  that  the  amount  of  fluid  circulating  in  the  vessels  is  sufficient  for  the  wants 
of  the  economy  ;  for  Dupuytren  found  by  his  experiments  that  thirst  could  be  allayed  by 
injecting  milk,  whey,  water,  and  other  fluids  into  the  veins.  But  though  the  desire  for 
liquids  is  in  general  an  indication  of  their  propriety,  yet  care  should  be  taken  not  to  drink 
largely  during  or  immediately  after  eating,  as  thereby  the  gastric  juice  becomes  too  much 
diluted,  and  the  process  of  digestion  materially  disturbed.  By  the  same  cause,  the  mu- 
cous membrane  becomes  too  much  relaxed,  its  secretions  changed,  and  the  stomach  too 
much  distended  to  act  upon  the  food  with  advantage.  "Experience,"  says  l)r.  Combe, 
"proves  that  a  moderate  quantity  of  liquid  during  a  meal  is  beneficial ;  and  if  we  drink 
little  at  a  time,  the  risk  of  exceeding  the  proper  limit  will  be  very  small.  Dyspeptics, 
however,  ought  to  be  on  their  guard  against  taking  too  much,  as  they  are  apt  to  be  misled 
by  uneasy  sensations  in  the  region  of  the  stomach,  which  are  relieved  for  the  moment, 
but  afterwards  aggravated,  by  the  free  dilution  of  the  food.  Those,  also,  who  li\  - 
and  are  in  the  habit  of  taking  wine  daily,  whether  the  system  requires  it  or  not,  often  fall 
into  the  error  of  excessive  indulgence  in  liquids,  to  mitigate  the  thirst  and  irritability  which 
the  unnecessary  use  of  stimulus  never  fails  to  induce,  especially  at  night  The  continual 
dilution,  however,  adds  to  the  mischief,  by  increasing  the  debility  of  the  stomach,  and,  as 
pointed  out  in  the  chapter  on  Thirst,  the  only  effectual  remedy  is  to  adapt  the  diet  and 
regimen  to  the  real  wants  of  the  constitution.  Except  in  disease,  a  continually  recurring 
thirst  must  proceed  from  mismanagement,  and  it  is  to  be  satisfied  by  an  improved  and 
rational  regimen,  and  not  by  oceans  of  fluid,  which  only  weaken  the  stomach  still  more, 
and  aggravate  the  craving  they  are  meant  to  cure." 


(I.)— page  49. 
IMPURE  WATER  AS  A  SOURCE  OF  DISEASE. 

We  are  satisfied  that  impure  water  is  more  frequently  a  cause  of  disease  than  is  gene- 
rally supposed.  It  has  been  thought  that  decaying  vegetable  matter,  when  received  into 
the  stomach,  was  entirely  innoxious,  the  antiseptic  properties  of  the  gastric  fluid  cor- 
recting all  its  injurious  properties,  and  making  that  bland  and  innocent,  which,  if  intro- 
duced into  the  system  in  any  other  manner,  would  be  productive  of  disease  and  death. 
But  this  opinion  is  evidently  erroneous,  for,  in  addition  to  the.  cases  mentioned  by  cur 
author,  an  immense  number  of  facts  could  be  adduced  to  show  that  this  is  the  frequent 
cause  of  disease.  The  British  Army  "Medical  Reports"  abound  with  such  instances, 
and  our  Medical  Journals  contain  many  facts  of  a  similar  kind.  The  fever  which  carried 
off  so  many  of  the  United  States  mounted  dragoons,  a  few  years  since,  while  on  a  vi.-it 
to  tl>3  Pawnee  settlements,  was  believed  to  have  been  occasioned  chiefly  by  drinking 
stagnant  water,  filled  with  decaying  vegetable  and  animal  matter.  Dr.  Paris  states  that 
"it  would  be  highly  dangerous  to  deny  the  morbid  tendency  of  water  that  holds  putres- 
cent  animal  or  vegetable  matter  in  solution,  or  which  abounds  in  mineral  impregnation." 
We  know  that  calculous  affections  are  most  frequent  in  countries  in  which  the  water 
abounds  in  lime,  and  the  same  author  infoims  us  that  "hard  water  has  a  tendency  to 
produce  disease  in  the  spleen  of  certain  anir.ials,  especially  the  sheep."  Galen  a> 
the  Elephantiasis  of  Egypt  to  the  impure  water  of  the  Nile ;  an  opinion  which  has  been 
adopted  by  Lucretius — 

"  Est  elephas  morbus,  qui  propter  flumina  Nili, 
Gignitur  ^^Egypto  in  Medio." — 


APPENDIX.  279 


(K.)-Page  52. 
MINERAL  WATERS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

No  country  in  the  world  abounds  in  a  greater  variety  of  mineral  waters  than  the  United 
States ;  and  as  they  are  now  resorted  to  by  all  classes,  not  only  for  medicinal  but  dietetical 
purposes,  it  is  proper  to  notice  them  somewhat  in  detail.  The  most  celebrated  mineral 
waters  in  our  country  are  those  of  Saratoga,  and  of  these,  the  Congress  water  maintains 
the  pre-eminence.  There  are  other  waters  whose  medicinal  properties  equal,  if  they  do 
not  surpass,  those  of  this  famous  spring:  but  there  are  certainly  none  which  combine, 
with  these,  so  many  properties  of  a  delightful  beverage,  causing  them  to  be  sought  after 
and  drunk  by  all  classes  of  people,  for  no  other  purpose  than  simply  to  gratify  the  palate 
or  to  allay  the  thirst.  It  is  somewhat  remarkable  that,  although  this  water  possesses  ac- 
tive medicinal  qualities,  yet  that,  except  in  diseases  attended  with  inflammatory  action, 
it  seldom,  if  ever,  occasions  any  unpleasant  consequences.  When  drunk,  however,  in 
very  large  quantities,  as  it  often  is  by  persons  who  are  in  the  habit  of  visiting  the  Springs, 
even  to  the  extent  of  30  or  40  tumblers  before  breakfast,  it  often  causes  serious  if  not 
dangerous  effects,  and  in  no  case  can  such  immense  quantities  of  fluid  be  imbibed  with- 
out doing  more  or  less  injury.  Even  five  or  six  tumblers,  which  is  the  minimum  quan- 
tity drunk  before  breakfast,  is  too  much  for  invalids  generally  to  use,  or  for  people  in 
health,  though  many  seem  to  drink  a  much  larger  quantity  with  impunity.  Dr.  Steel  re- 
marks, that  "  from  one  to  three  pints  of  the  water,  taken  in  the  morning  before  eating, 
usually  operates  freely  as  a  cathartic,  and  at  the  same  time  has  a  most  powerful  effect  in 
increasing  the  ordinary  secretions  of  the  kidneys;  but  its  operation,  like  that  of  all  other 
medicines,  is  much  influenced  by  the  condition  of  the  stomach  and  bowels  at  the  time  of 
receiving  it,  as  well  as  by  the  state  of  the  system  generally. 

"It  is  a  cathartic  possessing  evidently  interesting  and  important  qualities,  and  as  such,  it  is 
recommended  and  used  in  all  those  chronic  diseases  where  cathartics  and  gentle  aperients 
are  indicated ;  and  such  are  its  peculiar  effects,  when  judiciously  administered,  that  it  may 
be  persevered  in  for  almost  any  length  of  time,  and  a  daily  increased  evacuation  from  the 
bowels  produced,  without  debilitating  the  alimentary  canal,  or  in  any  way  impairing  the 
digestive  powers  of  the  stomach;  but,  on  the  contrary,  the  spirits,  appetite,  and  general 
health  will  be  improved  and  invigorated." 

Dr.  Steel  recommends  that  about  three  pints  should  be  taken  an  hour  or  two  before 
breakfast  in  the  morning,  and  followed  by  a  proper  share  of  exercise,  in  order  to  produce 
a  cathartic  effect ;  but  where  it  would  require  more,  he  advises  to  add  a  tea-spoonful  or 
two  of  Epsom  salts  to  the  first  tumbler.  It  should  not  be  drunk  at  all  during  the  remain- 
der of  the  day  by  those  who  wish  to  experience  the  full  benefit  of  its  use  ;  and  the  same 
writer,  who,  from  a  long  residence  at  the  Springs,  had  abundant  experience  on  the  sub- 
ject, remarks,  that  "  it  would  be  much  better  for  those  whose  complaints  rer  :ler  them  fit 
subjects  for  its  administration,  if  the  fountain  should  be  locked  up  and  no  or-)  suffered  to 
approach  it  after  the  hour  of  nine  or  ten  in  the  morning." 

One  gallon  of  this  water,  according  to  the  same  writer,  contains  as  follows  — 


Chloride  of  sodium 
Hydriodate  of  soda 
Bi-carbonate  of  soda     . 
Bi-carbonate  of  magnesia 
Carbonate  of  iron 
Silex     .... 
Hydro-bromate  of  potash,  a  trace 


335-0  grains. 
3'5  grains. 
8-982  grains. 
95-778  grains. 
5-075  grains. 
1-5  grains. 


597-943 


280  APPENDIX. 


Carbonic  acid  gas 311  cubic  inches. 

Atmospheric  air  7  cubic  inches. 

Gaseous  contents 318  cubic  inches. 


IODINE  SPRING,  SARATOGA. 

One  gallon  of  the  water  contains — 
Chloride  of  soda  . 


Carbonate  of  magnesia 
Carbonate  of  lime 
Carbonate  of  soda 
Carbonate  of  iron 


187  grain*. 

75  grains. 

26  grain*. 

2  grains. 

1  grain. 


Iodine 3-5  grains. 

294-5  solid1  contents. 

Carbonic  acid  gas  .        336  cubic  inches. 

Atmospheric  air    .  .  4  cubic  inches. 

340  gaseous  contents. 

(A 

SANS  SOUCI  SPRING,  BALLSTON  SPA 

A  wine  gallon  contains  of — 

Chloride  of  sodium 143-7    grain*. 

Bi-carbonate  of  soda 12-6    grains. 

Carbonate  of  lime 43-4    grains. 

Carbonate  of  iron 5-95  grains. 

Hydriodate  of  soda l-3    grain. 

Silica 1       grains. 

Total 247- 15  grains 

(Sled.) 

The  Salt  Sulphur  Springs  of  Virginia  contain  sulphate  of  lime,  sulphate  of  magnesia, 
sulphate  of  soda,  carbonate  of  lime,  carbonate  of  magnesia,  chloride  of  sodium,  chloride 
of  magnesium,  chloride  of  calcium,  iodine,  sulpho-hydrate  of  sodium  and  magnesium, 
sulphur  in   combination  with  a  peculiar  organic  matter,  per-oxide  of  iron,  sulphi 
hydrogen,  nitrogen,  oxygen,  carbonic  acid,  &c. 

The  White  Sulphur  Water  of  Greenbriar  county,  Va.,  contains  in  one  quart — 

Carbonate  of  lime 12    grains. 

Sulphate  of  magnesia 5    grains. 

Sulphate  of  lime     .       t 2    grcins. 

Muriate  of  lime H  grains. 

Iron 1    grain. 

Sulphur  (precipitated) i  grain. 

Sulphureted  hydrogen 
Carbonic  acid 

211  grains. 

For  further  information  on  the  mineral  waters  of  the  United  States,  see  Bell  "On  Baths 
and  Mineral  Waters." 


(L.)-p.  57. 
PURIFICATION  OF  SUGAR. 

It  is  a  well-known  fact,  that  many  vegetable  substances  undergo  important  alterations 
in  their  chemical  constitution  and  medicinal  properties,  if  they  be  exposed  for  a  long  lime 
to  a  heat  of  212°  ;  and  hence,  in  the  preparation  of  extracts  and  inspissated  juices  of 
plants,  forms  of  apparatus  are  sometimes  employed  in  which  the  evaporation  is  carried 
on  in  close  vessels  connected  with  an  air-pump,  and  in  which  a  partial  vacuum,  measured 


APPENDIX.  281 


by  a  barometer-gauge,  may  be  established.  This  principle  of  evaporation  at  low  tem- 
peratures, by  removal  of  the  atmospheric  pressure,  was  formerly  introduced  with  much 
advantage  into  the  manufacture  of  sugar,  as  the  true  crystallizable  sugar  is  converted 
into  the  uncrystallizable  sugar  (treacle)  with  great  rapidity  at  the  temperature  of  tailing 
sirup,  and  is  hence,  to  a  great  extent,  lost  to  the  manufacturer.  By  later  improvements, 
however,  in  the  mode  of  applying  heat,  the  necessity  of  evaporating  the  sirup  in  vacuo 
has  been  completely  obviated.  To  refine  sugar,  it  is  redissolved,  and  the  liquor,  having 
been  cautiously  evaporated  to  the  necessary  degree,  is  poured  into  cones  of  unglazed 
earthenware,  which  are  placed  on  their  summits,  the  orifice  in  which  is  stopped  by  a 
plug.  When,  by  cooling,  the  sirup  has  crystallized,  during  which  the  mass  is  contin- 
ually stirred  about  to  render  the  crystals  very  minute  and  close,  the  plug  below  is  re- 
moved, and  the  colored  liquid  drains  out ;  the  last  portions  of  it  being  removed  by  laying 
a  sponge  moistened  with  some  spirit,  or  with  a  clear  sirup,  on  the  sugar  at  the  base  of  the 
cone,  and  allowing  the  pure  liquid  to  filter  through.  If  a  strong  sirup  be  laid  aside  in  a 
warm  place,  it  crystallizes  in  very  beautiful  oblique  rhombs,  which  constitute  the  sugar- 
candy  of  commerce. 

(M.)— p.  66. 

FARINACEOUS  FOOD  IN  DISEASE. 

Most  of  the  farinaceous  articles  enumerated  under  the  head  of"  The  Amylaceous  Ali- 
mentary Principle"  are  composed  in  a  great  degree  of  starch,  which,  we  are  told,  is  con- 
verted, by  digestion,  into  gum  and  sugar,  the  latter  being  probably  absorbed.  Though  we 
have  been  in  the  habit,  for  many  years,  of  using  these  articles  in  our  practice,  in  most  cases 
of  disease,  and  especially  in  derangement  of  the  digestive  organs,  we  have  latterly  seen 
much  reason  to  doubt  whether  they  are  as  well  adapted  for  the  treatment  of  many  cases 
in  which  they  are  usually  prescribed,  as  a  preparation  of  animal  food.  In  cases  of  Chokra 
Infantum,  for  example,  a  jelly  prepared  from  the  sounds  of  the  cod,  or  from  Russia  isinglass, 
or  calves'  feet,  answers  far  better  than  any  kind  of  farinaceous  food,  which  passes  the  ali- 
mentary canal,  apparently,  entirely  undigested.  The  same  is  true  in  some  forms  of  dyspepsia. 
This,  however,  is  in  accordance  with  the  well-known  fact,  that  animal  food  is  of  easier 
digestion  than  vegetable,  as  it  requires  less  change  to  assimilate  it  to  the  wants  of  the  system. 

(N.)— p.  68. 
STARCH  IN  WOOD  AND  BARK. 

In  times  of  great  scarcity,  and  where  famine  threatens,  it  is  well  to  know  how  to  pre- 
pare a  nutritious  substance,  which  may  go  under  the  name  of  bread,  from  the  beech  and 
other  woods  destitute  of  turpentine.  According  to  Prof.  Autenreith,  every  thing  soluble 
in  water  is  first  removed  by  frequent  maceration  and  boiling ;  the  wood  is  then  to  be 
reduced  to  a  minute  state  of  division,  not  merely  into  fine  fibres,  but  actual  powder;  and 
after  being  repeatedly  subjected  to  heat  in  an  oven,  is  ground  in  the  usual  manner  of 
corn.  Wood  thus  prepared  acquires  the  smell  and  taste  of  corn-flour.  It  is,  however, 
never  quite  white.  It  agrees  with  corn-flour  in  not  fermenting  without  the  addition  of 
leaven,  and  in  this  case  some  leaven  of  corn-flour  is  found  to  answer  best.  With  this  it 
forms  a  perfectly  uniform  and  spongy  bread ;  and  when  thoroughly  baked,  and  has  much 
crust,  it  is  by  no  means  unpalatable.  Wood  flour,  also,  boiled  in  water,  forms  a  thick, 
tough,  trembling  jelly,  which  is  very  nutritious,  (Bell.)  Dr.  Turner  states  that  fungin 
is  nutritious  in  a  high  degree,  and  yields  nitrogen  gas  when  digested  in  dilute  nitric 
acid.  Its  composition  would  seem  to  be  very  analogous  to  animal  substances. 


282  APPENDIX. 


(O.)— Page  72. 
THE  ACIDULOUS  ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLE. 

The  propriety  of  admitting  the  existence  of  an  acidulous  alimentary   principle  may 
perhaps  admit  of  doubt.     If  it  be  said  that  vegetable  acid  is  contained  in  our  food,  it  may 
be  replied  that  lime,  potash,  and  other  inorganic  elements,  are  likewise  contained  in  it,  and, 
as  far  as  we  can  judge,  are  as  essential  to  the  maintenance  of  health.     That  it  has  al- 
ways been  used  by  man,  and  is  contained  in  many  of  the  fruits  employed  by  him  as  food, 
is  not  conclusive,  because  the  first  may  be  said  of  narcotic  substances,  and  the  latter  of 
organic  principles,  not  alimentary.     We  speak  now  of  pure  acetic  acid.     Vw-^ar,  as  it 
exists  in  the  shops,  contains  gum,  starch,  sugar,  gluten,  &c.,  and  therefore  is  strict 
titled  to  rank  among  alimentary  substances.     Chloride  of  soda,  in  the  form  of  common 
salt,  appears  to  be  as  necessary  for  the  preservation  of  health  as  vegetable  acid,  which 
in  the  northern  latitudes  cannot  be  obtained,  at  least  during  a  greater  portion  of  the  year. 
Indeed,  it  may  well  be  doubted  whether  there  are  any  facts  which  would  warrant  the  be- 
lief that  in  cold  climates  acids  are  necessary  to  health;  while  in  tropical  countri 
abundant  supply  which  nature  has  furnished  in  the  fruits  and  vegetables,  seems  to  justify 
the  belief  that  under  such  circumstances  they  perform  an  important  office  in  the  animal 
economy,  perhaps  as  condiments.     The  fact,  moreover,  that  pure  vegetable  aci.N  "MihW 
no  chemical  change  in  the  system,  except  combining  with  a  base,"  would  seem  to  weigh 
against  the  opinion  that  they  are  alimentary  principles.     The  absence  of  acids  in  our  food 
will  not  necessarily  produce  scurvy,  provided  the  other  conditions  of  health  are  present, 
especially  pure  air,  and  a  due  proportion  of  vegetable  and  animal  food. 


(P.)— Page  72. 
VINEGAR. 

In  the  United  States,  vinegar  is  chiefly  made  from  cider.  In  families  it  is  made  from 
cider  which  has  become  too  sour,  and  from  the  daily  remains  of  the  family  consumption. 
These  are  put  into  a  barrel,  standing  in  a  warm  place,  along  with  some  good  vinegar,  or 
with  what  is  called  the  mother  of  vinegar,  and  which  seems  to  act  as  a  ferment.  It  re- 
quires generally  several  weeks  to  form  strong  vinegar.  When  made  on  a  large  scale  from 
cider,  the  liquor  is  placed  in  barrels,  with  their  bung-holes  open,  which  an-  rxpo.-t.'J  dur- 
ing the  summer  to  the  heat  of  the  sun.  Perfect  acetification  requires  about  Uvo  years.  The 
progress  of  the  fermentation,  however,  must  be  watched,  and,  as  soon  as  perfect  vinegar  has 
formed,  it  should  be  racked  off  into  clean  barrels.  Without  this  precaution,  the  acetous 
fermentation  would  be  followed  by  the  putrefactive,  and  the  vinegar  be  spoiled.  Early 
cider  is  not  so  good  for  conversion  into  vinegar  as  the  late,  in  consequence  of  the  abun- 
dance of  malic  acid  which  the  former  contains  ;  for,  as  is  well  known,  the  malic  acid  is 
not  the  subject-matter  of  the  acetous  fermentation,  but  the  alcohol  which  it  contain.- 
vinous  liquor. 

Vinegar  may  be  clarified,  without  injuring  its  aroma,  by  throwing  about  a  tumbler-full 
of  boiled  milk  into  from  50  to  60  wine  gallons  of  the  liquid,  and  stirring  the  mixture. 
This  operation  has  the  effect,  at  the  same  time,  of  rendering  red  vinegaj  pale. 

Vinegar  is  also  sometimes  made  in  New  England  from  the  sap  of  the  sugar  maple. 
Chaptal  states,  that  if  two  pints  of  brandy  be  carefully  mixed  with  about  four  drachms  of 
yeast  and  a  little  starch,  there  will  be  produced  an  extremely  strong  vinegar,  which  will 
begin  to  form  about  the  fifteenth  day.  Vinegar  may  also  be  made  by  means  of  the  starch 


r— - : 


APPENDIX.  283 


and  ferment,  without  the  alcoholic  liquor  ;  but  in  this  case  the  process  will  be  longer,  and 
the  product  much  weaker. 

The  acetous  fermentation  is  not  always  necessary  for  the  production  of  acetic  acid. 
Sugar,  for  example,  mixed  with  water  in  which  the  gluten  of  wheat  has  fermented,  will 
be  converted  into  vinegar  without  access  of  air,  and  without  any  appearance  of  fermen- 
tation. Beer  and  cider,  if  long  kept,  become  sour,  although  the  air  be  carefully  excluded, 
and  an  infusion  of  malt  becomes  acid  in  a  few  days  under  the  same  circumstances, 
(Bache.)  Vinegar  is  sometimes  adulterated  with  sulphuric,  muriatic,  or  nitric  acid.  Sul- 
phuric acid  may  be  detected  by  acetate  of  baryta,  which  throws  down  sulphate  of  baryta, 
distinguishable  from  the  malate  and  tartrate  of  the  same  base  by  its  insolubility  in  nitric  acid. 
Muriatic  acid  is  shown  by  a  precipitate  being  formed  by  nitrate  of  silver,  insoluble  in 
nitric  acid,  but  perfectly  soluble  in  water  of  ammonia.  To  detect  nitric  acid,  add  a  little 
common  salt,  saturate  by  adding  carbonate  of  potassa,  and  evaporate  to  dry  ness.  Upon 
the  dry  residue  pour  equal  parts  of  sulphuric  acid  and  water,  through  which  some  gold- 
leaf  has  been  diffused,  and  boil  the  mixture.  If  nitric  acid  be  present,  nitro-muriatic  acid 
will  be  generated,  in  consequence  of  the  decomposition  of  the  common  salt,  and  the  gold- 
leaf  will  be  dissolved. 


(Q.)— p.  76. 
THE  ALCOHOLIC  ALIMENTARY  PRINCIPLE. 

It  may  be  doubted  whether  any  substance  can  properly  be  called  an  alimentary  prin- 
ciple, which,  if  introduced  into  the  system,  is  not  capable  in  some  degree  of  nourishing  it, 
and  repairing  its  losses. 

Liebig  remarks,  that  "  if  we  hold  that  increase  of  mass  in  the  animal  body,  the  develop- 
ment of  its  organs,  and  the  supply  of  waste, — that  all  this  is  dependent  on  the  blood,  that 
is,  on  the  ingredients  of  the  blood,  then  only  those  substances  can  properly  be  called  nu- 
tritious, or  considered  as  food,  which  are  capable  of  conversion  into  blood."  If  we  follow 
this  definition,  then  it  is  pretty  evident  that  alcohol  cannot  be  admitted  to  be  an  alimentary 
principle  ;  for  most  certain  is  it  that  it  contains  nothing  adapted  to  the  formation  of 
blood,  or  which  is  essential  to  the  constitution  of  the  organized  tissues.  But  then  its 
chemical  composition  resembles  that  of  other  iion-nitrogenized  substances  which  are 
recognised  as  food,  as  fat,  starch,  gum,  and  sugar ;  may  it  not  then  serve,  like  them,  as  an 
element  of  respiration,  according  to  Liebig's  hypothesis]  It  may  not  be  an  easy  matter  to 
prove  that  it  does  not,  and  yet  we  are  inclined  to  believe  that  the  statement  of  Liebig,  that 
it  is  not  given  off  by  any  of  the  secretions  or  excretions,  remains  yet  to  be  proved.  More- 
over, the  doctrine  that  the  non-nitrogenized  substances  serve  only  as  elements  of  respiration, 
can,  as  yet,  be  regarded  in  no  other  light  than  that  of  an  hypothesis. 

In  Liebig's  "  Organic  Chemistry  of  Agriculture,"  p.  290,  we  are  told  that  "  the  direct 
formation  of  carbonic  acid  is  the  last  stage  of  its  oxidation,  and  that  it  is  preceded  by  a 
series  of  changes,  the  last  of  which  is  a  complete  combustion  of  the  hydrogen.  Aldehyde, 
acetic  acid,  formic' acid,  oxalic  acid,  and  carbonic  acid  form  a  connected  chain  of  products, 
arising  from  the  oxidation  of  alcoho] ;  and  the  successive  changes  which  this  fluid  expe- 
riences from  the  action  of  oxygen  may  be  readily  traced  in  them."  If  this  be  so,  then  it 
would  appear  that  all  these  substances  must,  after  alcohol  is  drunk,  be  found  in  the 
system ;  a  supposition  which  is  far  from  being  probable. 

We  believe  that  facts  will  hardly  sustain  these  views,  which  seem  to  have  been  lately 
adopted  in  order  to  support  a  new  hypothesis.  Dr.  Percy,  of  -Edinburgh  (see  Appen- 
dix, D.,)  has  detected  alcohol  in  the  blood,  the  urine,  the  bile,  and  in  the  substance  of 


284  APPENDIX. 


most  of  the  organs  :  Magendie  has  also  detected  it  in  the  blood.  From  the  strong  odor 
of  alcohol  in  the  breath  after  this  substance  has  been  drunk,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that 
a  very  large  proportion  of  it  is  given  off  by  pulmonary  exhalation,  though  under  some 
circumstances,  as  we  have  suggested  in  another  place,  a  part  of  it  may,  perhaps,  be 
converted  into  fat. 

That  animal  heat  is  promoted  to  any  extent  by  the  combustion  of  alcohol  in  the  lungs 
we  think  still  more  questionable,  for  experience  has  proved  that,  other  things  being  equal, 
a  person  will  perish  sooner  when  exposed  to  severe  cold,  if  he  uses  alcoholic  drinks, 
than  if  he  entirely  abstains  from  them.  For  proof  of  this,  we  refer  to  facts  contained  in 
the  16th  chapter  of44  Bacchus,"  some  of  which  will  be  found  in  another  part  of  this  Ap- 
pendix, (D.)  There  is,  it  is  true,  a  popular  delusion  on  this  subject,  for  if  "coachmen 
and  others  take  alcoholic  drinks  in  cold  weather  to  keep  them  warm,"  they  also  take  them 
in  hot  weather  to  keep  them  cool  ;  but  in  neither  case  can  the  custom  be  quoted  as  an 
argument  in  favor  of  such  use,  or  of  the  justness  of  the  views  on  which  such  u?e  is 
founded. 

(R.)— p.  78. 

CONSUMPTION  OF  ALCOHOL  IN  THE  UNITED   STATES. 

A  great  change  has  taken  place  within  a  few  years  past  in  relation  to  the  drinking 
habits  of  the  people  of  the  United  States;  and  if  the  signs  of  the  times  are  not  entirely 
deceptive,  we  may  venture  the  belief  that  the  period  is  not  far  remote  when  the  common 
use  of  intoxicating  drinks  as  a  beverage,  will  be  entirely  unknown.  The  need  of  such  a 
reform  will  be  perceived  from  the  statemei  >•  of  a  few  facts.  In  1830,  there  were  over 
72,000,000  gallons  of  ardent  spirits  consumed  in  the  United  States,  by  a  population  of 
not  quite  13,000,000,  which  would  give  five  and  a  half  gallons  for  each  individual,  with- 
out taking  into  the  account  wine,  beer,  or  cider.  The  quantity  of  wine  consumed  during 
the  same  year  was  about  3,000,000  gallons.  In  1840,  the  amount  of  home-spirits  con- 
sumed was  about  36,343,000  gallons  ;  of  foreign  spirits,  2,500,000  and  of  wines,  4,000,000 
gallons;  making  a  total  of  42,843,000  gallons,  which  is  a  reduction  in  ten  years  of  <>\vr 
57  per  cent  Within  the  last  three  years  the  reduction  has  gone  on  witli  still  greater 
rapidity. 

(S.)— Page  80. 
AMERICAN  LIQUEURS. 

A  great  variety  of  Liqueurs  is  manufactured  in  this  city  from  rectified  whiskey,  sugar, 
and  essential  oils,  and  drunk  in  confectionery  shops  and  other  similar  establishments. 
The  greatest  proportion  of  these  fascinating  liquors  is  consumed  by  females,  who  would 
think  it  highly  ungenteel,  if  not  decidedly  vulgar,  to  be  seen  drinking  gin  or  brandy  ;  and 
yet  the  effects  of  the  former  are  quite  as  pernicious.  Some  of  the  flavoring  ingredients 
are  also  poisonous,  as  the  oil  of  bitter  almonds,  &c. ;  and  we  have  known  many  instances 
where  the  health  was  entirely  ruined  by  their  use,  and  the  foundation  laid  for  fatal 
diseases. 

(T.)— Page  87- 
BUTTER. 

Dr.  Bell  states,  (on  "Regimen,"  cf*c.,  p.  286,)  that  during  a  period  of  four  years,  up- 
wards of  600,000  pounds  of  butter  have  been,  on  an  average,  expc'ted  annually  from  the 


APPENDIX.  285 


United  States  to  the  West  Indies  and  South  America.  For  exportation  to  hot  climates,  it 
should  be  clarified  before  being  salted.  For  this  purpose  it  is  put  into  a  lipped  vessel 
and  placed  in  another  of  water,  which  is  to  be  gradually  heated  till  the  butter  is  melted. 
It  is  to  be  kept  melted  for  some  time,  to  allow  its  albuminous  or  caseous  particles  to 
settle  ;  the  clear  melted  butter  is  then  to  be  poured  off  from  the  dregs,  and  when  suffi- 
ciently cooled  it  is  salted.  This  clarified  butter  is  paler  than  the  fresh,  and  it  acquires 
nearly  the  consistence  of  tallow.  The  best  butter  in  the  New  York  market  is  made  at 
Goshen,  in  the  state  of  New  York.  The  average  produce  per  cow  of  the  butter  dairies 
is  estimated  at  168  pounds  a  year.  To  preserve  butter,  it  should  be  packed  close  in  a  clean 
scalded  firkin,  and  covered  over  with  strong  brine,  in  which  a  small  quantity  of  saltpetre 
is  dissolved. 


(U.)— Page  89. 
ADULTERATION  OF  VOLATILE  OILS. 

The  volatile  oils  are  often  adulterated  with  fixed  oils,  resinous  substances,  or  alcohol. 
The  fixed  oils  may  be  discovered  by  the  permanent  stain  which  they  leave  on  paper  when 
exposed  to  heat,  while  that  from  volatile  oil  is  entirely  dissipated.  Fixed  oils  and  resins 
may  be  detected  by  distillation,  which  leaves  them  behind.  If  alcohol  be  present,  the  oil 
becomes  milky  when  agitated  with  water,  and  after  the  separation  of  the  liquids,  the  wa- 
ter occupies  more  space,  and  the  oil  less,  than  before.  Sometimes  oils  of  little  value  are 
mixed  with  those  more  costly.  In  this  case,  the  taste  and  smell  are  the  best  means  of 
detecting  the  fraud.— ( Wood  <$>  Bache.') 


(V.)— Page  94. 
POISONOUS  CHEESE. 

In  several  instances  we  have  known  cheese,  sold  by  our  grocers,  produce  poisonous 
effects,  without  any  peculiarity  in  its  appearance,  taste,  or  smell,  to  indicate  such  a  prop- 
erty. The  symptoms  produced  by  it  were  those  which  attend  a  violent  attack  of  cholera 
morbus,  indicating  severe  gastro-enteritic  irritation.  In  one  case,  several  families  who 
purchased  portions  of  the  same  cheese  were  attacked  during  the  same  night,  after  eating 
small  quantities  of  it  with  their  supper,  and  in  some  of  them  the  effects  lasted  for  some 
days.  They  all,  however,  eventually  recovered.  Dr.  Christison,  who  has  thoroughly 
investigated  this  subject,  remarks,  that  in  some  of  the  poisonous  cheeses  noticed,  "  the 
curd,  before  being  salted,  is  left  for  some  time  in  a  heap  to  ferment,  in  consequence  of  which 
it  becomes  sour,  and  afterwards  ripens  faster.  But  if  the  milk  has  been  curdled  with 
vinegar — if  the  acid  liquor  formed  while  it  ferments  is  not  carefully  drained  off — if  the 
fermentation  is  allowed  to  go  too  far — if  too  little  salt  was  used  to  preserve  the  curd,  or  if 
flour  has  been  mixed  with  the  curd,  the  subsequent  ripening  or  decaying  of  the  cheese 
follows  a  peculiar  course,  and  a  considerable  excess  of  caseic  acid  is  formed,  as  well  as 
some  sebacic  acid." — (Christison  on  Poisons.) 


286  APPENDIX. 


(W.)— Page  108. 
SALT  MANUFACTURE  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Table  showing  the  relative  strength  of  the  different  brines  from  which  salt  is 
manufactured  in  the  United  States. 

At    Nanfm-ket,    350  gallons  of  pea-water   give  a  bushel  of  salt 

Boon's    Lick,    (Missouri,)  450  gallons  brine  give  do. 

Conemaugh,  (Perm.,)  300  do.  do. 

Shawneetown,  (Illinois,)  '2-«)  do.  do. 

Jargon,  (Ohio.)  213  do.  do. 

L«p.-kh:irf>.  Miss.,)  do.  do. 

Slmui town,  (BtUBofiiM,)  123  do.  do. 

St.  Catherine's,  (CJ.  C.)  120  do.  do. 

Zanesville,  (Ohio,)  i)5  do.  do. 

Ki'iiawha,  (Va.,)  75  do.  do. 

Grand  River,  (Arkansas,)  80  do.  do. 

Illinois  River,       (do.,)  80  do.  do. 

Miiskiiitriim,  (Ohio,)  50  do.  do. 

Onondaga,  (N.  V.,)  41  lo  45          do.  do. 

The  quantity  of  salt  manufactured  in  the  United  States  in  1829  was  3,804,229  busho',--, 
of  which  the  Onondaga  springs  furiiislinl  1,201,220  bushels.  In  1835  the  amount  of  salt 
made  from  these  springs  was  2.'J2'J.r>(.M  'nu-li- •!.-.  The  amount  of  brine  raised  from  the 
Saline  wells  at  Syracuse,  Salina,  Liverpool,  and  Geddes  is  44,760  gallons  in  an  hour,  or 
1,074,240  gallons  in  24  hours.  This  would  give  a  total  of  322,272,000  gallons  of  brine 
annually,  and  allowing  fifty  gallons  of  brine  to  a  bushel  of  salt,  would  yield  6,445,400 
Imshels.  Upwards  of  7,000,000  bushels  of  salt  are  annually  manufactured  in  the  United 
States  ;  2,000,000  of  these  at  the  Kenawha  springs. 

The  quantity  of  salt  annually  consumed  by  each  individual  in  France  has  been  esti- 
mated at  19i  pounds,  and  in  England  22  pounds,  which  would  require  a  total  of  101,000 
tons.  The  United  States  import  salt  to  the  amount  of  about  1,000,000  dollars  annually. 
From  the  increasing  demand  for  American  salted  provisions  abroad,  there  is  no  doubt 
that  a  much  larger  amount  will  hereafter  be  required. 


IS  MAN  OMNIVOROUS? 

The  physical  organization  of  man  proves  that  he  is  destined  for  a  mixed  kind  of 
aliment.  His  organs  of  mastication  hold  an  intermediate  place  between  those  of  the  car- 
nivorous and  herbivorous  animal ;  twelve  of  the  teeth,  namely,  the  canine  and  lesser  mala- 
res,  corresponding  to  those  of  the  former,  a:iu  twenty, — the  incisors  and  larger  molares, — 
to  those.of  the  latter.  If  we  regard  the  organs  of  digestion,  we  also  find  that  he  holds  a 
medium  place  between  the  carnivorous  and  herbivorous  tribes,  though  more  closely  ap- 
proximating the  latter.  In  the  former,  we  find  the  intestinal  canal  very  short, — in  the 
latter  very  long  ;  with  a  large  caecum,  and  pouched  colon.  If,  however,  we  consider  the 
length  of  the  canal,  in  reference  to  that  of  the  body*  excluding  the  limbs,  we  shall  find  that 
it  bears,  in  man,  the  proportion  of  12  to  1 ;  which  is  somewhat  greater  than  exists  in  the 
xinii:-  or  ape  tribe;  but  then  if  we  regard  its  capacity,  we  shall  find  that  it  is  much  less 
in  the  former.  This  organization  was  doubtless  designed  by  infinite  wisdom,  to  enable 
man  to  inhabit  every  part  of  our  globe;  which  he  evidently  could  not  have  done,  had  lie 
been  created  to  subsist  on  animal  or  vegetable  food  alone.  In  the  following  very  judicious 
remarks  of  Dr.  Dunglison,  we  fully  coincide: — 

"  Although  man  is  so  organized  as  to  be  adapted  for  living  on  both  animal  and  vegeta- 


APPENDIX.  287 


ble  substances,  it  is  not  indispensable  that  he  should  be  enabled  to  obtain  both.  In  the 
frozen  regions  of  the  north,  vegetable  food  fails  him ;  whilst  in  the  torrid  regions,  animal 
food,  if  it  can  be  obtained  in  due  quantity,  is  not  relished.  Accordingly,  we  find  nations 
and  tribes  which  subsist  on  animal  food  almost  exclusively,  and  others  by  which  an 
animal  diet  is  rarely,  if  at  all,  employed. 

"It  is  in  temperate  climes  that  man  is  truly  omnivorous.  The  products  of  both  animal 
and  vegetable  life  are  there  in  due  abundance,  and  equally  laid  under  contribution.  But 
even  in  these  climes,  the  young  of  the  human  family  are,  in  the  earliest  period  of  their 
existence,  wholly  carnivorous,  that  is,  so  long  as  they  are  restricted  to  the  breast ;  and 
there  is  no  doubt  whatever,  that  if  from  infancy  man.  in»the  temperate  regions,  were  con- 
fined to  an  animal  banquet,  it  would  be  entirely  in  accordance  with  his  nature,  and  would 
probably  develop  his  mental  and  corporeal  energies  to  as  great  a  degree  as  the  mixed 
nutriment  on  which  he  usually  subsists.  The  same  may  be  said  of  an  exclusively  vege- 
table diet,  which  some,  indeed,  suppose  to  have  been  his  original  food,  and.,  as  we  have 
seen,  to  be  most  in  accbrdance  with  his  nature. 

"  These  remarks,  however,  apply  only  to  the  case  in  which  the  animal  or  the  vegeta- 
ble substance  has  been  employed  exclusively  from  birth,  or  until  the  system  has  become 
habituated  to  it.  It  is  far  otherwise  if  we  lay  aside  our  mixed  nutriment,  and  restrict 
ourselves  wholly  to  the  products  of  the  one  or  the  other  kingdom.  Scurvy  supervenes, 
whether,  the  restriction  be  to  the  vegetable  or  to  the  animal — certain  experiments  instituted 
by  Magendie  show  clearly  that  omnivorous  man, — omnivorous,  that  is,  from  nature  and 
habit — requires  variety  of  articles  of  diet.  This  he  lays  down  as  an  important  hygienic 
precept,  but  it  is  of  course  inapplicable  to  those  tribes  that  have  been  accustomed  from 
birth  to  supply  the  wants  of  the  body  by  a  diet  exclusively  animal  or  vegetable." — (Hu- 
man Physiology,  vol.  1,  p.  213.) 


(Y.)— Page  121. 
MILK  AS  AFFECTED  BY  THE  DIET  AND  REGIMEN  OF  COWS. 

A  greater  portion  of  the  milk  with  which  the  inhabitants  of  New  York  have  been  sup- 
plied for  many  years  past,  has  been  obtained  from  cows  fed  on  distillery  slops,  and  crowded 
together  in  large  numbers  in  filthy  pens,  without  any  regard  to  ventilation  or  cleanliness. 
Thus  shut  up,  without  proper  exercise  or  pure  air,  the  milk  is  necessarily  diseased,  and 

ij  is  the  cause  of  extensive  mortality  among  young  children  and  infants.  Besides  these  un- 
healthy slops,  decayed  vegetables,  and  the  sour  and  putrid  offals  and  remnants  of  kitchens, 
are  gathered  up  for  the  food  of  these  animals;  the  consequence  of  which  is,  that  they 
become  diseased,  and  the  lactescent  secretion  partakes  of  the  same  impure  and  unhealthy 
character.  A  very  valuable  work  on  milk,  by  R.  M.  Hartley,  Esq.,  of  New  York,  was 
published  in  1842,  in  which  this  subject  is  treated  in  a  very  masterly  and  scientific  man- 
ner. To  this,  the  reader  is  referred  for  a  vast  fund  of  information,  not  elsewhere  to  be 
found.  From  this  work  we  gather  that  when  public  attention  was  first  called  to  this 

ji  subject,  about  the  year  1830,  there  were  500  dairies  in  the  vicinity  of  the  cities  of  New 
York  and  Brooklyn,  averaging  about  20  cows  each,  and  the  whole  number,  excepting  five 
or  six,  that  were  supplied  with  brewers'  grains,  were  fed  on  distillery  slops.  Some  cf 
these  distilleries  convert  from  700  to  1,000  bushels  of  grain  into  whiskey  daily,  and  sup- 
ply slop  for  at  least  2,000  cows,  besides  fattening  some  hundreds  of  swine  on  the  premises. 
The  cows  are  kept  upon  this  refuse  fluid,  called  slop,  because  it  yields  more  milk  at  a 
cheaper  rate  than  any  other  kind  of  food.  When  the  cows  become  so  much  diseased  as 


288 


APPENDIX. 


to  be  no  longer  profitable  for  the  dairy,  they  are  sent  to  the  cattle  market,  and  their  place 
supplied  by  fresh  stock.  Although  the  physicians  of  New  York  have  testified,  in  a  body 
to  the  extreme  unhealthiness  of  such  milk  to  young  children,  and  although  the  newspa- 
pers have  teemed  with  articles,  calling  public  attention  to  the  subject,  people,  generally, 
are  very  indifferent  to  what  kind  of  milk  they  use  in  their  families;  and  the  public  au- 
thorities have  not  deemed  the  matter  of  sufficient  consequence  to  give  it  the  slightest 
notice.  We  have  inspectors  of  flour,  of  leather,  of  tobacco,  of  meat,  fresh  and  salted,  of 
fish,  and  almost  every  other  article  of  merchandise,  but  for  MILK,  which  is  the  chief  article 
of  sustenance  to  the  young,  no  inspection  is  provided ;  and  to  judge  front  the  apathy 
hitherto  displayed  in  relation  to  it,  we  have  no  good  reason  to  expect  such  a  salutary 
regulation. 

The  following  Tables  show  the  Specific  Gravity,  Characteristics,  and  per  centage  of 
Cream  and  Curd,  by  measure,  contained  in  different  Samples  of  Milk. 

TABLE  I. 

MILK  OF  COUNTRY  DAIRIES. 


SAMPLES  OF  MILK. 

SPE.  GRAY. 

CHARACTERISTICS. 

PER  CENT. 

PER  CENT. 

OF  CREAM 

OF  CURD. 

Number       1 

1-098 

Alkaline 

10 

12 

2 

1-089 

10 

11 

3 

1  02s 

" 

9 

9 

'            4 

1026 

« 

8 

9 

5 

1101 

it 

8 

10 

6 

1026 

Acid 

7 

9 

1 

TABLE  II. 

MILK  OF  DISTILLERY-SLOP  DAIRIES. 


SAMPLES  OF  MILK. 

SPE.  GRAY. 

CHARACTERISTICS. 

PER  CENT. 
OF  CREAM 

PER  CENT. 
OF  CURD. 

Number      7 

1018 

Acid 

3i 

4 

8 

ma 

3* 

5 

9 

1015 

1 

4 

4 

10 

1016 

( 

5 

5 

11 

1016 

• 

4* 

5 

12 

1024 

6 

8 

REMARKS. 

These  results  show,  that  while  country  milk  is  alkaline,  slop-milk  is  acid,  and  contains, 
moreover*  less  than  half  the  nourishment  of  that  which  is  produced  from  grasses  and  other 
natural  food.  Again,  the  nutrient  properties  of  milk  consist  chiefly  of  oil  and  albumen; 
but  so  deficient  is  slop-milk  of  these  essential  elements,  that  it  is  incapable  of  producing 
butter  or  cheese.  Mr.  Hartley  remarks,  that  "a  coagulum  of  sufficient  consistence  and 
collusiveness  for  cheese-making  cannot  be  obtained  from  it;  and  while  the  milk  of  one 
good  cow,  properly  managed,  will  afford  one  pound  of  butter  daily,  the  milk  of  the  largest 
dairy  that  is  fed  on  slop  alone  will  not,  by  the  ordinary  process  of  churning,  yield  one 
ounce.  It  is  true,  that  when  the  milk  is  set  to  cream,  a  thin  white  pellicle  or  scum  rises 
to  the  surface;  but  when  churned  it  does  not  collect  and  coalesce  so  as  to  compose  butter, 
but,  by  the  agitation,  is  diffused  through  the  liquid  in  the  form  of  froth.  If  then  it  were 
pure,  and  possessed  no  deleterious  properties,  it  does  not  afford  the  nourishment  that  is 


APPENDIX.  289 


requisite  for  the  growth  and  sustenance  of  a  child." — In  addition  to  this,  the  slop-milk  is 
often  drugged,  and  always  diluted. 

In  1838,  it  was  computed  that  750,000  quarts  per  day,  or  27,375,000  quarts  of  milk 
per  annum,  were  consumed  in  the  cities  of  New  York  and  Brooklyn,  with  a  daily  deficiency 
of  10,000  quarts,  which  could  not  be  supplied,  even  with  the  aid  of  water;  as  the  dilution 
was  ulready  carried  as  far  as  the  mixture,  if  it  bare  the  appellation  of  milk,  would  warrant. 
At  that  time,  the  price  averaged  about  six  cents  per  quart,  which  would  produce  the  an- 
nual sum  of  $1,642,250  for  milk  for  these  cities.  It  has  also  been  estimated  that  the  price 
of  batter,  which  was  then  25  cts.  per  lb.,  did  not  yield  the  farmers  of  Dutchess  and  Put- 
nam If  cts.  per  quart  for  their  milk,  with  the  loss  of  their  labor  to  make  it  and  send  it  to 
market,  which  may  be  reckoned  at  2  cts.  per  lb. 

There  is  now  supplied  to  the  city  of  New  York,  by  the  New  York  and  Erie  Railroad 
alone,  which  is  extended  to  Middletown,  25,000  quarts  of  pure  milk  daily,  besides  cream 
in  considerable  quantities,  butter,  cheese,  &c. ;  but  the  supply  is  far  from  being  equal  to 
the  demand.  As  milk  does  not  now  yield  the  farmer  one  cent  per  quart,  when  made  into 
butter  at  present  prices,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  when  the  facilities  for  transporting 
it  to  ihe  city  are  increased,  it  will  be  furnished  pure  at  2  or  3  cents  per  quart  to  our  citi- 
zens. About  i  of  one  per  cent  will  be  a  remuneration  to  the  railway  to  carry  it  from  74 
to  100  miles.  At  one  cent  per  quart,  good  lands  situated  near  a  railroad,  within  100 
railed  of  the  city,  will  be  worth  100  dollars  per  acre  to  furnish  milk  to  this  city. 


(l.)-p.  131. 
EDIBLE  TURTLE  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

V\  u  shall  notice  a  few  of  the  edible  Turtle  in  the  United  States,  with  some  particulars 
relative  to  each  species. 

1.  The  salt  water  Terrapin  (Emys  palustris)  is  much  prized  by  epicures,  and  is  found 
exclusively  in  salt  or  brackish  streams  near  the  sea-shore.     They  bury  themselves  in  the 
mud  during  the  winter,  from  which  they  are  taken  in  great  numbers,  and  are  then  very 
fat.     This  is  a  small  turtle,  about  5  inches  in  length,  and  is  found  along  the  whole  Atlan- 
tic coast. 

2.  The  Painted  Tortoise  (Emys  pictd)  is  found  in  every  part  of  this  state,  and   occa- 
sionally eaten,  although  not  much  esteemed.     3.  The  Broad  Terrapin,  (Emys  insculpla,} 
and,  4.  The  Red-bellied  Terrapin,  (Emys  rubriventris,')  are  eaten  to  some  extent,  especially 
the  1  utter,  which  are' brought  to  our  markets  from  New  Jersey,  where   they  abound  in 
running  streams.     5.  The  Geographic  Tortoise  (Emys  geographical  is  occasionally  used 
as  food,'  and  its  flesh  is  represented  as  very  palatable.     6.  The  Snapping  Turtle  (Chelonura 
Serpenlind)  is  one  of  our  largest  turtles,  (about  12  inches  in  length,)  arid  common  to  every 
part  of  the  state  ;  its  eggs  and  flesh  are  equally  prized  for  food,  and  are  considered  very 
nutritious   and  savory.     The  larger  and  older  animals   have  a  strong,  musky    flavor, 
which  renders  them  unpalatable.     This   species   sometimes  goes  under   the  name  of 
Loggerhead,  Alligator  Turtle,  and  Couta.     Its  food  is  frogs,  fishes,  snakes,  &c. 

7.  The  Soft- Shelled  Turtle  (Tridnyx  ferox)  is  found  in  some  parts  of  this  state,  and  is 
held  in  high  esteem  as  a  wholesome  and  nutritious  article  of  food.  They  feed  on  fish 
and  the  smaller  aquatic  reptiles.  8.  The  Green  Turtle  (Chelonia  Mydas)  is  well  known 
to  the  epicure  for  its  delicious  steaks,  and  the  savory  soup  which  it  affords.  This  species 
abounds  on  the  coast  of  Florida,  where  it  deposits  eggs  in  the  sand,  which  are  hatched 
I 

19 


290  APPENDIX. 


by  the  heat  of  the  sun  in  the  course  of  two  or  three  weeks.  It  occasionally,  'e  met  with 
on  the  shores  of  Long  Island.  (Dekay,)  and  not  unfrequently  off  Sandy  Hook,  and  near 
Conej  Island.  They  are  generally  brought  to  our  Atlantic  cities  from  the  Gallipagos,  and 
other  Islands  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 


(2.)— Page  134. 
EDIBLE  FISH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

There  is  perhaps  no  country  on  the  globe  which  abounds  with  a  greater  variety  of 
edible  fish  of  excellent  quality  than  the  United  States.  The  most  important  oF  these  are, 
the  American  Cod,  (Morrhua  Americana,)  Mackerel,  (Scomber  vernalis,)  Kliad,  (Alosa 
pra  stability  Salmon,  Salm  n  Trout,  (Salmo  conjinisj  Brook  Trout,  Her,' hg,  Black 
Bass,  Striped  Bass,  Halibu  Perch,  Dace,  Pike,  Porgee,  Black  Fish,  cf-c.  Dr.  Dekay, 
in  his  late  most  excellent  wt/k  on  the  "Fishes  of  New  York,"  enumerates  440  species 
of  fishes,  comprised  under  156  genera,  and  32  families,  of  which  294  specie rj  belong  to 
the  State  of  New  York. 

The  mackerel  is  a  very  valuable  fish,  appearing  on  our  coast  in  the  months  of  May  and 
June.  On  the  coast  of  Massachusetts,  where  the  fishery  is  most  productive,  more  than 
200  vessels  are  sometimes  engaged  in  this  business ;  and  according  to  Dr.  Storcr,  in  1837, 
234,059  barrels  were  taken,  equal  in  value  to  1,639,042  dollars.  The  extent  of1  the  Cod 
fishery  in  the  U.  States  may  be  learned  from  the  following  facts.  In  the  yeav  1836,  561 
vessels  were  employed  from  towns  along  the  coast  of  Massachusetts,  hn  ring  crews 
ampuntingte  3,816  men.  In  the  following  season,  510,554  quintals*  were  taken  producing 
the  eum  of  $1,569,517.  In  the  year  1840,  the  tonnage  of  all  tjie  vessels  engaged  in  the 
Cod  fisheries  in  the  U.  States  amounted  to  76,025  tons,f  which,  at  the  usnnl  rate  of  6 
men  to  25  tons,  would  give  a  total  of  more  than  18,000  men  and  boys  emplovcd.  This 
fishery  is  generally  carried  on  in  small  open  boats  and  schooners  ;  the  fish  generally  bring 
about  4 -cents  a  pound.  From  the  liver  of  this  species,  as  well  as  from  shark ^,  mackerel, 
and  other  species,  an  oil  is  obtained  by  exposing  it  to  putrefaction  in  the  sun,  which  is 
consumed  in  the  manufacture  of  leather.  The  cod-liver  is  now  coming  into  pretty  ex- 
tensive use  as  a  medicine. 

The  American  Shad,  which  is  different  from  the  Shad  of  Europe,  is  a  hig  y  valuable 
fish,  which  visits  the  coasts  and  rivers  of  tnelJ.  States  annually — appearing  at  Charleston, 
S  C.,  in  January,  later  at  Norfolk,  in  the  Hudson  river  in  April,  and  in  Connecticut 
river  in  May.  Those  which  ascend  the  Connecticut  are  more  cylindrical  in  shape  than 
those  taken  in  the  Hudson,  and  are  covered  with  mucus,  giving  them  a  slimy  foel.  They 
are  considered  superior  in  quality  to  all  other  shad.  They  ascend  th.e  Hudson  150  miles 
to  spawn,  and  return  poor  and  unfit  to  eat,  the  latter  part  of  May.  They  a^e  sold  from 
8  to  15  dollars  per  thousand,  according  to  their  abundance.  Dr.  Dekay  states,  lhat  "from 
information  derived  from  various  sources,  he  has  no  doubt,  that  along  the  course  of  the 
Hudson  river,  there  is  a  capital  invested,  in  the  shad  fishery  alone,  of  nearly  rr.uf  a  million 
of  dollars." 

The  Lake  Trout,  Lake  Salmon,  or  Salmon  Trout,  is  a  much  esteemed  fish,  occurring  in 
the  northern  lakes  of  this  state.  Its  average  weight  is  from  8  to  10  pound  ^,  but  some 
weigli  30  or  more  They  frequent  the  deepest  water,  and  are  taken  with  the  hook  ; 
5  cwt.  being  sometimes  caught  in  the  course  of  a  few  days.  Its  price,  wh..n  salted,  is 

*  100  quintals  are  computed  to  contain  3,500  fish. 

1  Tha  tonnage  engaged  in  the  mackerel  fishery  was  23,267  tons,  and  in  the  whale  fishery  136,926 


APPENDIX.  291 


about  ten  cents  per  pound ;  but  when  fresh,  it  sells  from  twelve  to  14  cents,  and  when 
transported  to  our  principal  cities,  at  20  or  25  cents  a  pound.  This  fish  constitutes  a 
favorite  dish  at  the  tables  of  our  large  hotels ;  but  Dr.  Dekay  says,  "it  appears  to  him  to 
have  all  the  coarseness  of  the  halibut,  without  its  flavor." 

The  American  Smelt  is  a  very  beautiful  and  savory  little  fish,  named  from  its  peculiar 
smell,  which  resembles  that  of  cucumbers.  It  comes  to  us  from  the  North,  in  November 
and  December,  abounding  in  our  salt-water  streams,  and  is  sold  by  measure  in  our 
markets.  They  are  derived  chiefly  from  the  small  streams  emptying  into  Long  Island 
Sound,  and  from  the  Hackensack  and  Passaic  rivers,  in  New  Jersey.  It  varies  from  the 
European  species,  but  is  probably  not  inferior  in  quality.  There  are  many  other  species 
which  well  deserve  notice,  but  our  limits  forbid. 


(3.)— Page  139. 
CRUSTACEANS  FOR  FOOD. 

The  crustaceans  belong  chiefly  to  the  Cancer  or  Crab  family,  and  those  most  generally 
eaten  are  the  lobster,  shrimp,  and  prawn. 

Crabs  and  lobsters  abound  in  our  markets,  and  are  considered  by  many  as  delicious 
aliments ;  they  are,  however,  of  difficult  digestion,  and  often  occasion  violent  attacks  of 
cholera  morbus. 

"  Lobsters,"  says  Dr.  Paris,  "  are  certainly  nutritive,  but  are  extremely  indigestible  ; 
and  such  has  been  their  effect  upon  certain  stomachs,  as  to  have  excited  a  suspicion  of 
their  containing  some  poisonous  principle  ;  they  have  been  known  to  occasion  pain  in  the 
throat,  and  besides  eruptions  on  the  skin,  to  extend  their  morbid  influence  to  the  pro- 
duction of  pains  in  the  stomach,  and  affections  of  the  joints.  As'found  in  the  London 
market,  they  are  generally  underboiled,  with  a  view  to  their  better  keeping ;  and  in  that 
case  they  are  highly  indigestible.  The  same  observations  apply  to  the  crab.  Shrimps 
are  a  species  of  sea-crab,  which  vary  in  their  color  and  size,  and  are  considered  easier  of 
digestion  than  the  preceding  articles." — (Paris  on  Diet,  p.  112.) 

In  the  truth  of  these  remarks  we  fully  coincide. 


(4.)— Page  142. 
ON  MOLLUSCOUS  ANIMALS  FOR  FOOD. 

Of  these,  the  oyster  and  the  different  varieties  of  the  clam  are  the  principal.  The  green 
color  of  the  oyster  is  generally  occasioned  by  vegetating  germs  of  marine  conferva  and 
fuci,  and  not  to  being  laid  on  coppery  beds,  as  has  been  supposed  by  some.  Violent  ef- 
fects are  occasionally  produced  by  eating  oysters,  but  this  happens  for  the  most  part 
when  eaten  in  too  large  a  quantity,  or  out  of  their  proper  season.  The  oyster  casts  its 
spawn  in  the  month  of  May,  after  which  they  are  sick  and  unfit  for  food ;  but  in  July 
they  begin  to  improve,  and  in  August  they  are  perfectly  sound.  Hence  the  origin  of  the 
old  saying,  that  an  oyster  is  never  good  except  when  there  is  an  R  in  the  month.  Oys- 
ters are  very  abundant  on  the  Atlantic  coast,  from  New  York  to  Florida,  and  of  an  excel- 
lent quality.  There  is  no  article  of  food  more  prized  by  the  epicure. 

The  mussel,  which  was  formerly  eaten  to  considerable  extent,  and  then  went  mostly  out 
of  use,  is  again  in  considerable  demand  as  an  article  of  food.  Some  people  consider  the 
dark  part,  which  is  the  heart,  to  be  poisonous,  and  therefore  remove  it  before  eating 


292  APPENDIX. 


them.  This  is,  however,  a  mistaken  notion.  We  have  certainly  known  mussels  produce 
poisonous  symptoms  oftener  than  any  other  kind  of  food,  and  in  many  instances,  too, 
where  they  were  neither  stale  nor  tainted,  s?o  that  we  have  been  inclined  to  think  that, 
under  some  circumstances,  an  absolute  poison  may  be  generated.  The  symptoms,  as 
they  have  come  under  our  own  observation,  have  not  always  been  similar ;  but,  gener- 
ally, they  have  been  those  which  characterize  violent  derangement  of  the  stomach  and 
bowels.  There  were  present  in  one  instance,  where  a  family  of  eight  persons  were  most 
violently  affected  by  eating  them,  cardialgia,  pain  in  the  stomach  and  bowels,  nausea  and 
vomiting,  cramps,  heat  and  constriction  of  the  mouth  and  throat,  a  prickly  sensation 
in  the  hands,  difficulty  of  swallowing  and  speaking,  numbness  about  the  mouth,  extending 
to  the  arms,  with  great  debility  and  prostration.  One  of  the  persons  thus  affected,  a 
healthy  man  of 40,  died;  the  others  all  recovered.  It  is  now  well  ascertained  that  the 
poisonous  principle  in  these  cases  is  not  copper,  as  was  once  supposed,  nor  is  it  prob- 
able that  it  is  owing  to  changes  induced  by  decay.  By  some  it  has  been  attributed  to 
idiosyncrasy,  and  this  may  have  been  the^case  in  some  instances,  as  we  know  individuals 
who  can  eat  no  kind  offish  without  being  violently  affected.  "  A  relation  of  mine,"  says 
Christison,  "  for  many  years  could  not  take  a  few  mouthfuls  of  salmon,  trout,  herring, 
turbot,  halibut,  or  lobster,  without  being  attacked  in  a  few  minutes  or  hours  with  violent 
vomiting  ;  yet  at  an  early  period  of  life  he  could  eat  them  all  with  impunity*  and  at  all 
times  he  has  eaten,  without  injury,  cod,  ling,  haddock,  whiting,  flounder,  oyster,  and 
mussels/'  Some  ascribe  their  poisonous  qualities  to  disease  in  the  fish,  while  AJ. 
Lamouroux  conjectures  that  the  poison  may  be  a  particular  species  of  Medusa.  In  the 
present  state  of  knowledge  on  the  subject,  we  are  entirely  ignorant  in  what  the  poisonous 
principle  may  reside.  It  is,  however,  necessary  to  be  extremely  cautious  in  eating  this 
kind  of  food,  and  during  the  hot  months  of  summer  it  should  be  entirely  prohibited. 


(5.)— Page  145. 
DECAYED  ANIMAL  SUBSTANCES  AS  FOOD. 

It  is  not  an  uncommon  circumstance  in  this  city  to  meet  with  cases  of  poisoning  from 
eating  smoked  beef,  which  has  been  imperfectly  cured.  During  the  last  year,  about  40 
cases  of  this  kind  occurred  in  a  particular  neighborhood,  and  were  all  traced  to  a  lot  of 
smoked  beef,  sold  at  a  certain  grocery.  The  symptoms  closely  resembled  those  already 
mentioned,  as  produced  by  poisonous  fish,  and  were,  no  doubt,  occasioned  by  the  meat 
having  partially  undergone  putrefaction,  but  not  sufficiently  so  as  to  offend  the  sense  of 
smell  or  taste.  It  is  well  known  that  in  Germany,  cheese,  a  particular  kind  of  sausage, 
and  bacon,  acquire  dangerous  properties  in  this  manner,  as  noticed  by  our  author.  Dr. 
Kerner  considers  that  the  poison  is  a  compound  one,  consisting  of  fatty  acid,  analogous  to 
the  sebacic,  and  of  a  volatile  principle.  Buchner  has  also  isolated  a  fatty  acid  from  poisonous 
sausages,  which  he  calls  Botulinic  acid,  and  which  produces  all  the  effects  of  the  article 
from  which  it  is  extracted.  Some  have  supposed  that  the  deleterious  properties  of  the 
smoked  beef  above  mentioned  were  owing  to  overdriving  the  cattle,  and  that,  to  prevent 
the  occurrence  of  such  cases,  there  should  be  an  inspector  appointed,  whose  duty  it  should 
be  to  examine  carefully  all  cattle  before  they  are  slaughtered.  We  are,  however,  left  to 
surmise  what  are  the  signs  by  which  we  are  to  tell  whether  cattle  have  been  injured  by 
overheating,  and  their  beef  unfit  to  be  eaten. 


APPENDIX.  293 


(6.)— Page  146. 
WHEAT. 

Wheat  is  cultivated  very  generally  over  the  United  States,  though  it  may  be  called  the 
bread-corn  of  the  people  of  the  Northern  and  Eastern  States.  Indian  corn  is  consumed  in 
larger  quantities  at  the  South  and  West,  although  wheat  also  constitutes  no  small  part  of 
the  bread-stuffs.  The  quantum  of  Indian  corn  raised  in  the  United  States  annually  is  about 
360  millions  of  bushels,  while  that  of  wheat  is  about  85  millions  of  bushels  ;  a  large  amount 
of  the  former  is,  however,  consumed  by  horses  and  other  stock.  Dr.  Bell  estimates  that 
65  millions  of  bushels  are  consumed  by  the  people  of  the  United  States  annually,  or  less 
than  four  bushels  per  individual,  while  he  allows  eight  .bushels  per  individual  of  bread- 
corn  yearly.  Considering  that  this  constitutes  the  chief  bread-corn  among  the  slave  popu- 
lation, as  well  as  in  some  of  the  free  states,  this  estimate  is  probably  not  too  large.  In 
1838,  the  quantity  of  wheat  flour  exported  from  the  United  States  was  448,161  barrels, 
and  of  wheat,  6,*291  bushels ;  while  in  1790,  there  were  1,124,458  bushels  of  wheat,  and 
724,623  barrels  of  fiour  exported.  The  annual  average  of  wheat  exported  during  those 
periods  was  209,686  bushels,  and  of  flour,  877,000  barrels.  The  exports  of  wheat  from 
Pennsylvania  alone,  100  years  ago,  were  greater  than  from  the  whole  United  States  in 
1838,  and  but  two  years  during  the  last  twenty-five  give  a  larger  export  of  this  article 
than  Pennsylvania  alone  sixty  years  ago.  These  facts  show  that  the  home  consumption 
has  vastly  increased,  and  that  the  true  way  of  furnishing  a  market  for  the  article  is,  to 
encourage  the  arts  and  manufactures  among  ourselves. 

The  best  flour  in  the  New  York  market  comes  from  the  state  of  Ohio,  and  is  in  great 
request  among  bakers,  generally  commanding  half  a  dollar  a  barrel  more  than  any  other 
kind  of  flour.  The  southern  flour  is  of  a  darker  color,  and  not  so  marketable  ;  but  as  it 
contains  more  gluten,  it  generally  makes  a  lighter  bread.  Flour  is  subject  to  inspection 
in  our  market,  but  the  inspector's  brand  is  far  from  being  an  infallible  proof  of  good  qual- 
ity. The  rame  of  the  mill  where  the  flour  is  manufactured  is  usually  stamped  upon  the 
barrel,  and  this  often  leads  to  deception,  by  purchasing  up  those  barrels  which  bear  the  most 
celebrated  brands,  and  replenishing  them  with  an  inferior  article.  Flour  from  the  same 
manufactory  is,  however,  found  to  vary  greatly  in  quality  in  different  years.  This  is 
owing  to  a  variety  of  causes,  some  of  which  are  not  well  understood.  Where  wheat  is 
cultivated  after  wheat  for  several  years  on  the  same  soil,  we  know  that  it  exhausts  the 
ground  of  alkalies,  especially  the  silicate  of  potash,  to  which  its  strength  of  stalk  is  due, 
and  its  growth  is  consequently  arrested.  This  is  the  reason  why  land  in  the  older  states 
will  not  produce  wheat  vitScut  frequent  manuring;  but  this  cause  does  not  probably 
affect  the  quality  of  whtt  is  iv'sod. 

(7.)— Page  150. 
bREAD  MAKING. 

From  a  variety  of  experiment's  we  are  satisfied  no  good  bread  can  be  made  except 
from  good  flour,  fermented  in  the  'icurl  manner  with  good  yeast.  If  it  is  well  kneaded 
with  pure  water,  seasoned  with  a  little  srlt,  raised  with  fine  yeast,  and  baked  sufficiently, 
at  a  proper  heat,  the  bread  must  necessarily  ta  good.  If  there  is  a  deficiency  in  any  of 
these  particulars,  the  bread  will  be  poor.  £otne  are  in  the  habit  of  using  leaven,  made 
by  mixing  flour  and  water  into  a  paste,  and  exposing  it  to  heat,  when  it  undergoes  partial 
fermentation,  and  will  act  as  leaven  when  mixed  Wi*h  fresh  dough.  But  the  bread  is 
more  liable  to  become  sour  than  when  yeast  is  usad.  \7t  have1  tried  t?  n?ise  dmifrh  with 
muriatic  acid  and  magnesia,  after  the  manner  describtd  b_,  om  i\_*hor,  bi;*  the  Hrcad  hjis 


294  APPENDIX. 


always  been  tough  and  heavy,  and  of  an  unpleasant  flavor.  We  doult  whether,  as  a 
general  rule,  the  plan  will  ever  succeed,  though  it  possibly  may  in  the  hands  of  a  few 
who  have  experimented  pretty  extensively.  Where  acetous  fermentation  has  taken  place 
in  the  dough,  we  know  no  objection  to  adding  a  little  carbonate  of  magnesia  to  the  flour, 
which  will  correct  the  evil.  Where  the  flour  is  of  an  indifferent  quality,  from  20  to  30 
(if  very  bad,  40)  grains  of  magnesia  to  a  pound  of  flour  will  greatly  improve  the  bread, 
without  producing  any  evil  consequences.  The  reason  why  Indian  corn  and  other  grains, 
which  consist  chiefly  of  starch,  are  incapable  of  making  bread,  is  that  they  contain  no 
gluten.  "  Wheat  flour  paste,"  as  Dr.  Ure  has  well  remarked,  "  is  merely  a  viscid  and 
elastic  tissue  of  gluten,  the  interstices  of  which  are  filled  with  starch,  albumen,  and 
sugar." 


(8.)— Page  160. 
RICE 

**  If  we  desire,"  says  Dr.  Bell,  "  to  know  the  various  fashions  of  preparing  it  for  ali- 
ment, so  ao  to  please  the  palate  without  loss  of  its  nutritive  properties,  we  ought  to  con- 
sult the  records  of  Indo-Chinese  cookery.  A  common  dish  with  the  people  of  the  Ea&t 
is  kicheri,  or  rice  boiled  and  dressed  with  lentils  or  with  small  beans.  Rice  torrefied,  and 
the  central  part  of  the  grains  exposed,  and  pressed  into  a  kind  of  cake  before  the  grains 
become  dry,  may  be  preserved  for  a  length  of  time,  ready  for  immediate  use.  The  com- 
mon and  simplest  form  of  preparation  is  by  boiling  the  rice  in  a  moderate  quantity  of 
water  until  it  becomes  softened,  and  the  liquid  white  and  slightly  consistent  This  is 
congee,  as  familiar  to  the  Hindoos  as  porridge  to  the  Irish,  polenta  to  the  Italians,  or  mush 
to  the  Americans.  Rice-eaters  are  content  with  this  simple  food,  slightly  seasoned  with 
some  aromatic  or  spice  ;  they  drink  water,  and  are  ignorant  of  that  multiplicity  of  animal 
aliments  which  become  so  frequently  a  cause  of  disease  to  Europeans  and  Anglo-Amer- 
icans."— (Bell  on  Regimen,  <fc.,  p.  148.) 


(9.)— Page  166. 
THE  PEACH. 

The  peach,  though  a  native  of  Persia,  flourishes  well  in  many  parts  of  the  United  ^ 
especially  the  western  portions.  By  the  Romans  it  was  carried  into  Italy,  and  thence 
into  France,  though,  according  to  Columella,  it  was  thought  to  possess  deleterious 
qualities  when  first  introduced  into  the  Roman  Empire,  which  Mr.  Knight  attributes  to 
their  containing  a  large  portion  of  prussic  acid.  The  peach  was  introduced  into  England 
about  the  middle  of  the  16th  century  ;  but,  owing  to  the  climate,  it  is  there  chiefly  a  wall 
fruit.  The  best  peaches  in  France  are  raised  at  Montreuil,  a  village  near  Paris. 

So  abundant  is  the  peach  in  many  parts  of  our  country,  that  it  has  been  extensively  em- 
ployed in  the  middle,  south*  n,  and  western  states  in  the  manufacture  of  brandy  ;  but  this 
practice  is  now  going  out  of  use,  as  it  is  found  that  it  is  far  more  profitable  to  dry  peaches 
for  the  purpose  of  making  pies,  &c.  The  best  way  of  drying  peaches  is  to  have  a  small 
house  provided  with  a  stove,  and  drawers  in  the  sides  of  the  house  lathed  at  their  bot- 
toms with  void  intervals.  The  peaches  should  be  ripe  and  cut  in  two,  not  peeled,  and 
laid  in  a  single  layer  on  the  laths,  with  their  skins  downward,  to  save  the  juice.  On 
shoving  in  the  drawer,  they  are  soon  dried  by  the  hot  air  produced  by  the  stove.  In  this 
way  great  quantities  may  successively,  in  a  single  season,  be  prepared  with  a  vory  little 


APPENDIX.  295 


expense  in  the  preparation  of  the1,  building  and  in  fuel.  The  peach  is  cultivated  very  ex- 
tensively in  many  parts  of  New  Jersey,  for  the  New  York  arid  Philadelphia  markets, 
some  orchards  producing  10,000  bushels  annually.  Owing,  however,  to  its  liability  of  be- 
ing injured  by  frost,  &c.,  it  is  rather  an  uncertain  crop. 

There  are  about  70  distinct  varieties  of  the  peach,  including  free-stones  and  cling- 
stones, cultivated  in  this  country  and  Europe,  of  which  36  exist  in  the  U.  States.  Of  the 
Nectarine  there  are  about  twenty  varieties,  though  the  French  consider  this  as  only  a 
variety  uf  the  peach,  and  not  a  distinct  species.  Twelve  varieties  of  the  Nectarine  are 
supplied  by  our  Florists  and  Horticulturists. 


(10.)— Page  171. 
THE  VINE. 

It  is  a  very  common  opinion,  but  one  which  we  believe  to  be  unsustained  by  facts,  that 
wine-growing  countries  are  the  most  temperate  ones.  Dr.  Bell  quotes  from  Dupin,  and 
a  French  Medical  Journal,,  the  following  quantities  of  alcoholic  drinks  consumed  in  France 
in  the  v  car  1830:— 


Wine ' 

Cider       

Beer        .  

Brandy  from  wine  ...... 

Brandy  from  cider,  cherries,  grains,  and  potatoes 


61 1,466,000  gallons. 

234,121,000 

124,000,000 

15,074,000 

2,890,800 


Alcoholic  drinks  of  all  kindg          .  .        .        987,551,800 

This  is  at  the  rate  of  42  gallons  per  individual  for  the  whole  population  of  France. 
The  sum  total  of  alcohol  in  the  above  drinks  is  86,570,870  gallons,  or  2$  gallons  for  each 
individual.  The  excise  duties  on  beer  in  France  in  1824  amounted  to  9,252,300  francs, 
or  1,800,000  dollars.  Dr.  Bell  states,  that,  from  personal  observation,  he  has  convinced 
himseK  that  '*  drunkenness  is  becoming,  and  has  in  many  parts  of  France  become,  as 
much  n  national  vice  as  it  was,  and  still,  alas !  greatly  is,  in  the  United  States  and  the 
British  Empire."  M.  Villerme,  the  statistical  writer,  states  that  "  drunkenness  is  the 
greatesl  curse  of  the  laboring  classes  of  France."  ("  The  position  of  the  American  Tem- 
perance Societies  is  founded  on  just  grounds,  viz.,  that  entire  abstinence  from  intoxicating 
liquor*  is  the  only  certain  remedy  against  intemperance.")  (Annal  d'Hygiene,  v.  xxii.) 
The  snme  views  in  relation  to  the  intemperance  of  France  are  held  by  M.  Perier,  Mr. 
Bulwer,  and  other  standard  writers.  We  have  in  another  place  said  a  few  words  in  re- 
lation 'O  the  different  intoxicating  power  of  alcoholic  liquors  of  equivalent  strength,  and 
sugges:ed  an  explanaion  of  the  phenomenon. 

We  are  happy  to  find  that  our  view  of  the  subject  is  maintained  by  Prof.  Brande,  in  a 
late  lecture  delivered  in  the  Theatre  of  the  Royal  Institution,  and  published  in  the 
"Medical  Times"  of  June  17,  1843.  In  this  he  remarks  :  "  To  account  for  the  different 
intoxicating  power  of  different  liquors,  and  especially  for  the  difference  in  the  effects  of 
wine  :md  spirituous  liquors  of  equivalent  strength,  we  must,  in  the  first  place,  recollect 
that  wine  has  never  passed  through  the  still ;  that  in  it  the  alcohol  and  water  are  at  all 
events  in  perfect  combination,  and  the  acid  and  other  matters  of  the  wine  may  also  miti- 
gate il-;  effects.  Whereas,  if  I  mix  a  pint  of  brandy  with  a  pint  of  water,  and  imme- 
diately proceed  to  drink  it,  that  mutual  penetration  of  the  alcoholic  and  aqueous  particles, 
to  which  I  have  already  alluded,  has  not  had  time  to  take  place ;  the  mixture,  therefore, 
is  moru  heating  to  the  palate,  and  more  powerful  in  its  effects  upon  the  nerves  of  the 
stomach  than  if  it  were  a  true  combination.  Bat  we  can  put  the  truth  of  this  opinion  to 


1296  APPENDIX. 


a  better  test ;  for  if  I  distill  a  bottle  of  sherry  till  about  three  fourths  have  passed  over,  and  then 
add  a  fourth  01  ivater  to  the  distilled  product,  so  as  to  make  up  the  original  volume  of  the 
wine,  I  shall  fi.id  that  this  product  is  more  heating  and  inebriating  than  the  original  \vine, 
and  that  I  leave  in  the  still  or  retort  a  quantity  of  extractive,  acid,  and  other  matter,  which 
materially  affected  the  flavor  and  effects  of  the  sherry.  It  is  to  such  causes  that  I  ihink 
we  may  satisfactorily  refer  the  different  effects  of  genuine  wine,  and  of  its  equivalent  in 
diluted  alcohol ;  hence,  too,  the  febriferous,  heating,  and  dyspeptic  effects  of  bad,  braudied, 
adulterated,  and  made  wines,  and  of  the  trash  which  is  produced  under  the  name  of  wine 
at  ordinary  tavern  dinners.  Some  chemists  have  suggested  the  probability  of  the  non- 
existence  of  ready-formed  alcohol  in  wine,  and  have  supposed  that  the  alcohol  is  generated 
by  the  action  of  heat,  and  is  altogether  a  product  of  distillation;  but  inasmuch  as  I  can 
obtain  the  same  quantity  of  alcohol  by  distilling  wines  at  very  low  as  at  very  high  tem- 
peratures, arid  as  I  can  get  the  full  compliment  of  alcohol  from  the  stronger  wines  by  the 
action  of  carbonate  of  potash,  which  abstracts  water  and  separates  alcohol  without  any 
distillation  or  other  interference  of  heat,  we  must  not  allow  those  who  indulge  in  excess 
of  wine  to  lay  any  such  flattering  unction  to  their  souls,  or  to  use  any  such  argum  nt  in 
opposition  to  the  tee-totallers." — (Prof.  Brande,  L.  Med.  Times,  p. -180,  vol.  viii.) 


(11.)— Page  182. 
POTATOES  A  PREVENTIVE  AND  CURE  FOR  SCURVY. 

Much  has  been  said  of  late,  in  France  and  England,  of  the  value  of  this  vegetable  in 
the  prevention  and  cure  of  scorbutic  disease,  administered  several  times  a  day  in  ils  raw 
state,  but  scraped  sufficiently  fine  to  make  it  digestible.  It  seems  to  have  been  amply 
tested  among  the  seamen  of  the  French  navy.  In  the  United  States  army,  thi*  is  no 
new  remedy  in  scorbutus.  Thus,  in  the  first  quarter  of  1821,  there  were  sixteen  cases 
reported  at  Fort  Crawford,  Prairie  du  Chien,  of  which  two  terminated  fatally.  The  nu-di- 
cal  officer,  in  his  report,  according  to  the  "statistics  of  the  United  States  Army,"  sprnking 
of  the  employment  of  "  raw  pota  toes  and  vinegar"  says:  "I  selected  four  or  five  of  the 
worst  cases,  which  had  received  no  alleviation  from  the  use  of  the  nitre  and  vine- 
gar, and  directed  each  one  to  eat,  per  day,  a  common  soup-plate  full  of  the  potato, 
sliced  down  in  a  sufficient  quantity  of  vinegar.  It  had  an  immediate  effect  on  the  stomach, 
which  recovered  its  natural  vigor  ;  the  bowels  became  regular,  the  pains  abated,  the 
stricture  of  the  tendons  was  overcome,  the  ulcers  put  on  a  healthy  aspect,  and  in  a  few 
days  the  patient  found  himself  in  a  happy  state  of  convalescence." — (Th- 
Journal  of  Medicine  for  July,  edited  by  S.  Furry,  M.  D.) 

That  health  may  be  maintained  on  a  diet  composed  chiefly  of  potatoes,  is  fully  demon- 
strated by  the  results  of  the  following 

"  Experiment  at  the  Glasgow  Bridewell"  in  1840. 

Breakfast. — Eight  ounces  of  oatmeal  made  into  porridge,  with  a  pint  of  buttermilk. 

Dinner. — Three  pounds  of  boiled  potatoes  with  salt 

Supper. — Five  ounces  of  oatmeal  made  into  porridge,  with  half  a  pint  of  buttermilk. 

Ten  prisoners,  five  men  and  five  boys,  were  placed  upon  this  diet,  having  bern  pre- 
viously examined  relative  to  their  health,  and  weighed.  They  were  employed  ?i\  light 
work,  and  under  sentence  of  confinement  for  two  months.  At  the  beginning  of  Ihe  ex- 
periment, eight  were  in  good  health,  and  two  in  indifferent  health  ;  at  the  end,  all  ivore  in 
good  hsalth,  and  they  had,  on  an  average,  gained  more  than  four  pounds  each  in  weight, 


APPENDIX.  297 


only  one  prisoner,  a  man,  having  lost  in  weight.  The  greatest  gain  was  nine  pounds 
four  ounces,  and  was  made  by  one  of  the  men  ;  the  prisoner  who  was  reduced  in  weight 
had  lost  five  pounds  two  ounces.  Cost,  including  cooking  2|d.  It  was  found  by  experi- 
ment, that  baked  potatoes  were  far  less  nourishing  than  boiled,  the  prisoners  losing,  on 
an  average,  1£  pounds  weight,  instead  of  gaining,  though  in  ail  other  respects  the  diet 
was  the  same  as  in  the  former  experiment.  The  addition  of  a  quarter  of  a  pound  of  meat 
to  the  diet  did  not  add  to  their  weight ;  on  the  contrary,  the  prisoners  lost,  on  an  average, 
1£  pounds.  The  results  were  not  more  satisfactory  when  the  quantity  of  meat  svas  in- 
creased to  half  a  pound  at  dinner.  In  an  experiment' upon  the  same  number  o1  ">efsons, 
the  diet  consisted  as  follows : — 

Breakfast. — Two  pounds  of  potatoes  boiled. 

Dinner. — TJjree  pounds  of  potatoes  boiled. 

Supper. — One  pound  of  potatoes  boiled. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  experiment,  eight  were  in  good  health,  and  two  in  indifferent 
health  ;  at  the  end,  the  eight  continued  in  good  health,  and  the  two  who  had  beet:-  in  in- 
different health  had  improved.  There  was,  on  an  average,  a  gain  in  weight  of  nearly  3J 
pounds  per  prisoner,  the  greatest  gain  being  8i  pounds.  Only  two  lost  in  weight,  and 
the  quantity  in  each  case  was  trifling.  The  prisoners  all  expressed  themselves  satisfied 
with  this  diet,  and  regretted  the  change  back  again  to  the  ordinary  diet.  On  the  whole, 
these  experiments  prove  that  prisoners  may  be  kept  in  good  condition  at  a  verv  mode- 
rate expense,  the  cost  not  exceeding  6d.  per  day,  when  fed  as  above.  Indeed,  we  know, 
from  an  experiment  conducted  on  a  still  larger  scale  in  Ireland,  that  potatoes  and  milk, 
with  a  little  oatmeal,  are  sufficient  for  healthy  nutrition. — ("Fifth  Report  of  the  Inspectors 
of  Prisons  of  Scotland,"  <f-c.,  by  Frederick  Hill,  18401) 


(12.)—  Page  192. 
TEA. 

If  the  researches  of  Liebig  with  respect  to  Theine  and  Caffeine  are  deemed  worthy  of 
credit,*  then  tea  cannot  be  regarded,  as  it  generally  has  been,  simply  as  a  narcotic,  without 
possessing  any  useful  qualities  whatever.  "If an  infusion  of  tea,"  says  Liebig,  "contain 
no  more  than  the  l-10th  of  a  grain  of  caffeine,  still,  if  it  contribute,  in  point  of  fact.  To  the 
formation  of  bile,  the  action,  even  of  such  a  quantity,  cannot  be  looked  upon  as  a  nullity  ; 
neither  can  it  be  denied  that  in  the  case  of  an  excess  of  non-azotized  food,  and  a  deficiency 
of  motion,  which  is  required  to  cause  the  change  of  matter  in  the  tissues,  and  thus  to  yield 
the  nitrogenized  product  which  enters  into  the  composition  of  the  bile  ;  that  in  such  a 
condition  the  health  may  be  benefited  by  the  use  of  compounds  which  are  capaoie  of 
supplying  the  pJace  of  the  nitrogenized  product,  produced  in  the  healthy  state  of  the  oody, 
and  essential  to  the  production  of  an  important  element  of  respiration.  In  a  cnemical 
sense — and  it  is  this  alone  which  the  preceding  remarks  are  intended  to  show — caffeine 
and  theine  are,  in  virtue  of  their  composition,  better  adapted  to  this  purpose  than  all 
other  nitrogenized  vegetable  principles." — Organic  Chemistry,  p.  182. 

Green  Tea  undoubtedly  possesses  very  active  medicinal  properties  ;  for  a  very  strong 
decoction  of  it,  or  the  extract,  speedily  destroys  life  in  the  inferior  animals,  even  when 
given  in  very  small  doses.  This  has  b<;en  repeatedly  tested  by  experiment  in  this  city, 
and  may,  therefore,  be  taken  as  an  undoubted  fact.  The  strongly-marked  effects  of  tea 

*  His  hypothesis  is,  that  theine  and  caffeine,  (which  are  identical,)  with  the  addition  of  oxygen  and  the 
elements  of  water,  yield  taurme,  the  nitrogenized  compound  peculiar  to  the  bile. 


298  APPENDIX. 


upon  persons  of  a  highly  nervous  temperament,  in  causing  wakefulness,  tremors,  palpi- 
tations, and  other  distressing  feelings,  prove,  also,  that  it  is  an  agent  of  considerable 
power,  and  should  not  be  used  to  any  great  extent  by  persons  of  such  a  habit.  It  not 
(infrequently  occasions  vertigo  and  sick-headache,  together  with  a  sinking  sensation  at  the 
pit  of  the  stomach,  shortly  after  eating.  It  is  also  opposed  to  an  active  nutrition,  and  should, 
therefore,  be  used  with  great  moderation  by  those  who  are  very  thin  in  flesh.  From  its 
astringent  prftpert'es,  it  is  often  useful  in  a  relaxed  condition  of  the  bowels,  and  from  its 
pleasurable,  exhi  irating  effects,  it  is  often  recommended  to  the  studious,  the  sedentary, 
anH  those  affected  with  low  spirits  and  indigestion.  We  are,  however,  satisfied  that 
grew  Tea  does  not,  in  any  case,  form  a  salubrious  beverage  to  persons  in  health,  and  should 
give  |>tac,e  to  milk,  milk  and  water,  black  tea,  milk  and  sugar,  which,  taken  tepid,  form 
very  >i^re«able  and  healthy  drinks. 


(13.)— Page  193. 
COFFEE. 

The  following  encomium  upon  coffee,  is  said  to  have  been  written  by  Abd-al-Kader 
Anasjin  Djezeri  Hanbali,  son  of  Mohammed.  It  was  translated  from  the  Arabic,  and 
published  in  a  German  Journal,  in  1834. 

u  O  Coffee  !  thou  dispellest  the  cares  of  the  great ;  thou  bringest  back  those  who  wan- 
der from  the  paths  of  knowledge.  Coffee  is  the  beverage  of  the  people  of  God,  and  the 
cordiul  ot'his  servants  who  thirst  for  wisdom.  When  coffee  is  infused  into  the  bowl,  it 
e.xh/'lrc.-  the  odor  of  musk,  and  is  of  the  color  of  ink.  The  truth  is  not  known  except  to 
B6|  who  drink  it  from  the  foaming  coffee-cup.  God  has  deprived  fools  of  coffee, 
wh'j  with  invincible  obstinacy  condemn  it  as  injurious. 

"Coffee  is  our  gold,  and  in  the  place  of  its  libations  we  are  in  the  enjoyment  of  the 
best  and  noblest  society.  Coffee  is  even  as  innocent  a  drink  as  the  purest  milk,  from 
which  it  is  only  distinguished  by  its  color.  Tarry  with  thy  coffee  in  the  place  of  i; 
paration,  and  the  good  God  will  hover  over  thee  and  participate  in  his  fwast.  There  the 
graces  of  the  saloon,  the  luxury  of  life,  the  society  of  friends,  all  furnish  a  picture  of  the 
abode  of  happiness. 

•'Kvwry  care  vanishes  when  the  cup-bearer  presents  the  delicious  chalice.  It  will 
circulate  fleetly  through  thy  veins,  and  will  not  rankle  there  :  if  thou  doubtest  this,  con- 
template the  youth  and  beauty  of  those  who  drink  it.  Grief  cannot  exist  whore  it 
gT>w8  ;  Borrow  humbles  itself  in  obedience  before  its  powers. 

-O>ft-?e  is  the  drink  of  God's  people;  in  it  is  health.  Let  this  be  the  answer  to  those 
wno  doubt  its  qualities.  In  it  will  we  drown  our  adversities,  and  in  its  fire  consume  our 
sorrows.  Whoever  has  once  seen  the  blissful  chalice,  will  scorn  the  wine-cup.  Glori- 
ous drink  !  thy  color  is  the  seal  of  purity,  and  reason  proclaims  it  genuine.  Drink  with 
confidence,  and  regard  not  the  prattle  of  fools,  who  condemn  without  foundation." 

In  contrast  with  this  high-wrought  eulogy  of  this  favorite  article,  may  be  placed  the 
abuse  of  some  late  ultra  dietetical  reformers,  who,  in  their  zeal  to  bring  man  back  to  the 
Antt'ilihivi.m  beverage,  proscribe  every  thing  in  the  shape  of  lluid,  with  the  exception 
of  milk  and  water.  We  should,  however,  consider  that  cordials  or  stimulants  are,  at 
least,  occasionally  useful,  and  that,  whether  useful  %r  not,  mankind  always  have,  and 
probably  always  will,  make  use  of  them.  But  of  ai  those  which  have  hitherto  been  in- 
troduced, none  perhaps,  combine  so  many  excellent,  with  so  few  evil  qualities,  as  that  of 
coffee.  To  moderately  nutritive  properties,  it  adds  those  of  a  m.'l-d  and  cordial  stimulant, 


APPENDIX.  299 


without  producing  those  peculiar  narcotic  effects  which  so  often  accompany  the  use  of 
strong  green  tea.  We  are  persuaded  that  it  is  not  wise  to  wholly  proscribe  coffee,  as  it 
is  eminently  useful  to  those  who  are  trying  to  wean  themselves  from  the  use  of  alcoholic 
stimulants,  and  if  employed  of  moderate  strength,  with  milk  and  sugar,  it  cannot  be  con- 
sidered injurious  as  a  common  beverage. 


(14.)— Page  199. 
ALCOHOL  IN  BEER. 

According  to  Christison,  Edinburgh  Ale  contains  7'35  per  cent,  alcohol,  or  16-15  per  cent, 
by  volume  of  proof  spirit. 

According  to  Brande,  London  Ale  contains  6$  per  cent,  of  alcohol,  or  13  percent,  of 
prool'spirit ;  porter,  4£  per  cent,  alcohol,  or  8$  per  cent,  proof  spirit.  Small  beer,  1$  per  cent, 
alcohol,  2$  per  cent,  proof  spirit.  According  to  Dr.  L.  C.  Beck,  Albany  Ale  in  barrels  con- 
tains 7'38  percent,  alcohol,  or  14-76  per  cent,  proof  spirit,  while  that  in  bottles  has  10-67  per 
cent  alcohol,  or  21-34  per  cent,  proof  spirit.  The  word  "  spirit,"  in  the  above  extract  from 
Dr.  Ure,  evidently  stands  for  alcohol,  and  not  proof  spirit,  as  is  generally  understood.* 


(15.)— Page  200. 
MALT  LIQUORS. 

Al  uch  attention  has  been  devoted  in  the  United  States,  for  the  last  twenty  years,  to  an 
investigation  of  the  dietetical  and  medicinal  effects  of  distilled  and  fermented  liquors,  and 
it  is  proper  to  state  that  a  majority  of  the  medical  profession,  it  is  believed,  have  adopted 
the  opinion,  that  in  health  such  drinks  are  not  only  useless,  but  in  general  injurious. 

Malt  liquors  have  not  been  excepted  from  the  condemnation  which  has  been  passed  on 
all  the  others ;  and  the  discovery  of  the  very  general,  if  not  universal,  adulteration  prac- 
tised in  their  manufacture,  as  well  as  the  common  employment  of  the  most  filthy  water, 

*  We  have  found,  by  evaporating  North  River  Ale  over  a  sand-bath,  that  it  yields  about  816  grains  of 
solid  wxtractive  matter  to  the  pint,  or  one  eleventh  of  the  whole  weight.  This  is  equivalent  to  nine 
ounces  of  solid  matter  to  the  gallon.  The  loss  sustained  by  the  process  of  malting  and  brewing  may  be 
estimated  thus  :— 

100  Ibs.  of  good  barley,  taken  in  its  ordinary  state  of  moisture        .         100  Ibs. 

Loss  of  matter  by  the  process  of  malting,  8  per  cent. 

Loss  sustained  by  brewing      ........          67     " 

Total  loss  of  soluble  matter 75  per  cent. 

In  barley,  hordein  and  starch  constitute  the  largest  proportion,  sugar  and  gum  being  in  small  quantity  ; 
but  by  the  process  of  mailing,  the  hordein  is  chiefly  converted  into  starch  and  sugar,  the  latter  of  which 
by  fermentation  is  changed  into  alcohol,  and  a  portion  of  the  former  into  gum.  The  changes  effected  by 
malting  may  readily  be  understood  from  the  following  table  of  Proust.  (An.  de  Chim.  et  de  Ph.  r.) 

In  100  parts  of  barley.  In  100  parts  of  malt. 

Resin       ...  1  .1 


Gum 

Sugar 

Gluten 

SLtarch 

Hordein 


4 
5 
3 

32 
55 


15 
15 

1 

56 
12 


Previous  to  fermentation,  one  quart  of  strong  ale  has  been  calculated  to  yield  about  three  ounces  of 
solid  matter.  In  the  condition  of  Sweet  wort,  it  yields  not  less  than  six  ounces.  Every  pound  weight  of 
solid  matter  decomposed  by  fermentation  is  found  to  yield  half  a  pound  of  alcohol  of  the  sp.  gr.  0-825. 
The  gum,  which  constitutes  the  chief  portion  of  the  solid  matter  in  malt  liquors,  possesses  comparatively 
but  slightly  nutritious  properties. 


300  APPENDIX. 


have  tended  to  increase  the  prejudice  under  which  they  previously  labored.  The  Conse- 
quence has  been,  that  the  use  of  these  drinks  has  very  much  diminished.  The  opinion 
of  Dr.  Franklin  also,  previously  alluded  to,  has  had  no  little  weight  in  convincing  Ameri- 
cans that  malt  liquor  is  not  so  "nutritious"  a  beverage  as  it  is  supposed  to  be  in  threat 
Britain  ;  moreover,  that  its  stimulating  qualities  are  by  no  means  desirable  in  hea'ih,  or 
advantageous  to  laboring  men.  When  a  journeyman  printer  in  London,  he  informs  us 
that  he  endeavored  to  convince  his  fellow-workmen  that  "the  bodily  strength  furnished  by 
the  beer  could  only  be  in  proportion  to  the  solid  part  of  the  barley  dissolved  in  the  water 
of  which  the  beer  was  composed  ;  and  that  there  was  a  larger  portion  of  Hour  in  a  penny 
loaf;  and  that,  consequently,  if  they  ate  the  loaf,  and  drank  a  pint  of  water  with  it,  they  \s  oiild 
derive  more  strength  from  it  than  from  a  pint  of  beer."  In  proof  of  the  correctness  of 
this  position,  Dr.  Franklin  states  as  follows — "On  my  entrance  I  worked  at  first  a.-  \  iv.-s- 
man,  conceiving  that  I  had  need  of  bodily  exercise,  to  which  I  had  been  accustomed  in 
America.  I  drank  nothing  but  water.  The  other  workmen,  to  the  number  of  aboul  fifty, 
were  great  drinkers  of  beer.  I  carried  occasionally  a  large  form  of  letters  in  each  hand, 
up  and  down  stairs,  while  the  rest  employed  both  hands  to  carry  one.  They  were,  sur- 
prised to  see  by  this  and  many  other  examples,  that  the  American  aquatic,  as  they  used 
to  call  me,  was  stronger  than  those  who  drank  porter." 

The  general  opinion,  therefore,  of  the  medical  profession  as  well  as   others,  in  this 
country,  seems  to  be,  that  malt  liquors  are  more  deleterious  in  their  effects  on  the 
than  ardent  spirits ;  and  in  the  correctness  of  this  opinion  we  are  inclined  to  coincide. 
They  certainly  stupify  the  brain,  render  the  blood  too  viscid,  load  the  cellular  tissue  willi  fat, 
and  so  modify  the  vital  cohesion  of  the  solids,  as  to  render  wounds  extremely  difficult  t 
and  accidents  which  in  water-drinkers  would  be  attended  with  little  or  no  danger,  ver\  cer- 
tainly fatal.     Sir  Astley  Cooper  notices  this  fact  in  his  lectures.     Old  Dr.  Chryne  ad  vet  ts  to 
the  innutritious  property  of  the  extract  contained  in  malt  'iquors,  as  follows  : — "  As  to  malt 
liquors,  they  are  not  much  in  use,  excepting  small  beer,  with  any  but  mechanics  and  fox- 
hunters.     The  French  very  justly  call  them  barley  soup.     I  am  well  satisfied  that  I 
stomach  can  as  readily  and  with  less  pain  digest  pork  and  pea-soup  as  Yorkshire  01  .Not- 
tingham ale.     They  make  excellent  bird-lime,  and  when  simmered  some  time  over 
tie  fire,  make  the  most  sticking  and  the  best  plaster  for  old  strains  that  can  be  contri  ed." 
(Essay  on  Health  and  Long  Life"  p.  60,  9th  ed.) 

It  is  very  questionable  whether  the  daily  use  of  the  hop  alone  will  be  found  serviei  able 
to  persons  in  health,  as  bitters,  when  regularly  used,  impair  the  functions  of  digestion. 
Dr.  A.  T.Thompson  remarks,  that  "as  appetite  and  digestion  are  promoted  by  the  opera- 
tion of  tonics  on  the  stomach  itself,  it  may  appear  singular  that  their  frequent  and  long- 
continued  use,  is  generally  followed  by  a  loss  of  tone,  but  such  is  really  the  G 
as  about  one  ounce  of  hops  are  generally  allowed  in  brewing  to  a  gallon  of  beer,  01  two 
pounds  to  the  barrel,  he  who  drinks  two  quarts  of  malt  liquor  daily,  swallows  no!  less 
than  half  an  ounce  of  hops,  in  addition  to  nearly  half  a  pint  of  alcohol,  to  say  nothing  of 
the  danger  of  being  poisoned  by  other  drugs.  Professor  Mussey's  experience  on  tins 
point  is  valuable.  "At  the  age  of  twenty  years,"  he  remarks,  "  while  occupied  durini;  the 
hay  season  upon  my  father's  farm,  I  drank  hop-beer  for  about  three  weeks,  but  w:i.s  in- 
iuced  to  discontinue  it  on  account  of  a  peculiar  organic  weakness  as  well  as  a  diminution 
of  the  general  strength,  which  I  attributed  to  that  beverage.  The  local  disorder  in, me- 
diately subsided,  and  in  about  two  weeks  from  the  time  of  ceasing  to  drink  the  b 
strength  was  restored/' 

The  adulteration  of  malt  liquors  has  been  carried  in  the  United  States  to  a  very 
extent,  as  we  have  no  laws  as  in  Great  Britain  to  prevent  such  practices.     Perhaps  viler 


APPENDIX.  301 


L 


compounds  under  the  name  of  drinks,  were  never  manufactured  than  such  as  were  in 
general  use  in  this  country  a  few  years  ago,  and  to  some  extent  even  at  the  present  time. 
By  an  improved  method  of  analysis,  discovered  by  Professor  Mapes  of  this  city,  a  variety 
of  samples,  from  nearly  a  dozen  different  breweries,  were  found  to  have  been  extensively 
adulterated  with  Cocculus  Indicus  or  Nux  Vomica ;  at  which,  however,  none  were  sur- 
prised who  were  acquainted  with  the  effects  which  these  liquors  produced  upon  those 
who  were  in  the  habit  of  using  them. 

The  sale  of  drugs  to  brewers  is  a  regular  and  by  no  means  unprofitable  part  of  the 
trade ;  and  the  extent  to  which  this  has  been  carried  on  would  not  be  believed,  should 
we  state  merely  the  facts  which  have  come  within  our  own  knowledge.  Repeated  at- 
templs  have  been  made  to  induce  the  legislature  of  this  state  to  institute  an  inquiry  into 
the  mode  of  manufacturing  beer,  but  as  many  of  our  legislators  are  engaged  in  the 
business,  such  a  proceeding  would  be  evidently  unconstitutional  The  only  remedy  against 
the  evil  is  to  abstain  entirely  .from  the  use  of  malt  liquors,  a  practice  which  we  are  happy 
to  know  is  now  nearly  universal. 

Dr.  S.  B.  Woodward,  of  Worcester,  (Mass.)  on  Malt  Liquors. 

"  With  respect  to  ale  as  it  was  originally  prepared  by  the  English  brewers,  it  was  a  safe 
and  wholesome  beverage,  very  proper  as  a  mild  cordial,  where  an  article  of  the  kind  was 
needed.  For  a  long  time  the  English  ale  was  manufactured  from  barley,  malt,  and  yeast 
only,  which  made  a  delicious  beer  of  less  strength  than  cider,  and  hardly  greater  than  the 
comnioi  domestic  beer  of  private  manufacture.  After  a  while,  the  hop  was  added,  which 
gave  bitterness  and  an  exhilarating  quality  to  ale,  that  it  did  not  before  possess.  The  in- 
troduction of  the  hop  was  complained  of  at  that  time  by  the  lovers  of  pure  ale.  One  of 
the  oldest  English  writers  on  the  subject,  Mr.  Andrew  Boorde,  says,  'that  those  who  put 
any  other  ingredients  than  barley,  malt,  and  yeast  into  the  ale,  sophisticated  Jie  labor. 
Without  hops,  &c.,'  he  continues,  *  ale  is  the  natural  drink  of  an  Englishman  but  with 
them,  it  is  the  natural  drink  of  a  Dutchman  ;  but  of  late  is  much  used  in  England,  to  the 
great  detriment  of  many  Englishmen.'  'There  existed,'  says  Dr.  Paris,  'for  a  long 
time,  strong  prejudices  against  hops,  which  were  considered  a  pernicious  weed.  But  re- 
cently they  are  considered  an  essential  ingredient  in  English  ale.' 

"  More  recently  still,  other  drugs,  highly  narcotic,  and  much  more  dangerous,  have  been 
adde-d  to  the  ingredients  of  ale,  such  as  quassia  wood,  oil  of  vitriol,  India  berry,  opium, 
hemlock,  nux  vomica,  grains  of  Paradise,  &c.  Such  is  the  extent  to  which  this  practice 
has  been  carried  in  England,  that  the  British  parliament  passed  laws  imposing  severe 
penalties  for  selling  or  using  such  drugs.  The  following  is  an  extract  from  one  of  these 
laws:  — 

"'  No  druggist,  vender  of,  or  dealer  in  drugs,  or  chemist,  or  other  person,  shall  sell  or 
deliver  to  any  licensed  brewer,  dealer  in  or  retailer  of  beer,  knowing  them  to  be  such,  or 
shall  sell  or  deliver  to  any  pers  n  on  account  of,  or  in  trust  for,  any  such  brewer,  dealer 
or  retailer,  any  liquor  called  by  the  name  of  or  sold  as  coloring,  from  whatever  material 
the  same  may  be  made,  or  any  material  or  preparation  other  than  unground  brown  malt, 
for  the  darkening  the  color  of  worts  or  beer,  or  any  molasses,  vitriol,  honey,  quassia, 
coculus  indicus,  grains  of  Paradise,  Guinea  pepper  or  opium,  or  any  extract  or  preparation 
of  molasses,  or  any  article  or  preparation  to  be  used  in  worts  or  beer,  for  or  as  a  substi- 
tute for  malt  or  hops ;  and  if  any  druggist  shall  offend  in  any  of  these  particulars,  such 
preparation,  &c.,  shall  be  forfeited,  and  may  be  seized  by  any  officer  of  excise,  and  the 
perso.n  so  offending  shall  forfeiture  hundred  pounds.' 

"For  violating  this  and  similar  acts  of  parliament,  the  following  prosecutions  were  made 


302  APPENDIX. 


in  London  alone.  'During  seven  years,' says  Mr.  Allain,  'there  were  twenty-nine 
druggists  and  grocers  prosecuted  and  fined  for  supplying  these  illegal  ingredients  to  the 
brewer.  In  tho  period  of  three  years,  nineteen  persons  who  dealt  in  the  article  were 
fined  for  adulterating  their  liquors.  Ii  six  years,  fifty  brewers  were  prosecuted  foi  usiner 
such  articles  in  their  establishments,  and  mixing  their  liquors  in  an  illegal  manner.' 

"The  author  of  a  practical  treatise  on  brewing,  published  in  England,  has  the  following 
remarks.  Speaking  of  these  illegal  ingredients,  he  observes, 'that  however  pernicious 
or  disagreeable  they  may  appear,  he  lias  always  found  them  necessary  in  the  brewing  of 
porter,  &c.,  and  he  thinks  they  must  invariably  be  used  by  those  who  wish  to  continue 
the  taste,  flavor,  and  appearance  of  the  beer,  and  he  could  never  produce  the  present  flavored 
article  without  them.'  Thus  showing  that  all  the  beer  approved  of  by  connoisseurs  in 
England,  has  a  mixture  of  these  poisonous  ingredients  notwithstanding  the  severity  of  the 
penalty. 

"If  such  practices  are  common  in  England,  where  these  heavy  penalties  are  im(K)sed, 
and  this  unceasing  vigilance  exercised  to  detect  and  punish  such  frauds,  what  may  we 
suppose  to  be  the  practice  in  this  country,  where  we  have  no  laws  on  the  subject,  and 
no  inspection  of  the  vast  quantities  of  these  liquors  issuing  from  our  manufactories  ?  The 
individual  who  values  health  will  prefer  to  dispense  with  the  us:  of  ale  and  porter,  rather 
than  risk  the  danger  that  may  come  to  him  from  these  impurities,  even  should  ho  have 
no  apprehensions  from  their  intoxicating  qualities.  And  yet  it  should  not  be  disguised, 
that  all  the  malt  liquors  do  contain  sufficient  alcohol  to  produce  drunkenness. 

"Dr.  Johnson,  of  London,  says  of  them,  'Thpy  are  a  prolific  source  of  dis-as,-;'  lie 
therefore  is  opposed  to  their  use,  and  declares  *that  the  beer-bibber  has  little  reason  to 
exult  over  the  dram-drinker.' 

"' Malt  Jiquors,' says  Doctor  McNish,  of  Glasgow,  '  under  which  title  we  include  all 
kinds  of  porter  and  ales,  produce  the  worst  species  of  drunkenness,  as,  in  addition  to  the 
intoxicating  principle,  some  noxious  ingredients  are  usually  added,  for  the  purpose  of  pre- 
serving them  and  giving  them  a  better  taste:  after  being  swallowed,  fixed  air  is  copiously 
liberated,  and  tho  digestion  of  delicate  stomachs  materially  impaired.  The  effects  of 
malt  liquors  on  the  body,'  he  continues,  'if  not  so  immediately  rapid  as  those  of  nrdent 
spirits,  are  more  stupifying,  more  lasting,  and  less  easily  removed.  Tbe  most  dreadful 
effects  on  the  whole  are  brought  on  by  spirits,  but  drunkenness  from  malt  liquors  is  most 
suddenly  fatal.' 

"  Whether  we  consider  it  in  reference  to  health,  to  its  influence  upon  the  mind  and  the 
feelings,  no  advantage  whatever  is  gained  by  substituting  wine  or  other  fermented  liquors 
(especially  as  usually  prepared  and  adulterated)  for  alcohol  in  any  of  the  forms  of  dis- 
tilled spirits." 

Nux   Vomica  and  Cocculus  Indicus. 

These  poisonous  drugs  are  imported  into  this  country  in  large  quantities,  and  chiefly 
purchased  by  brewers  for  the  manufacture  of  beer.  The  amount  annually  imported  can- 
not be  accurately  ascertained,  though  it  is  very  great ;  there  is  reason,  however,  to  believe 
that  it  has  been  considerably  diminished  within  the  last  few  years. 

The  following  table  shows  the  amount  of  these  articles  imported  into  England,  and  en- 
tered for  home  consumption,  for  the  years  1829,  '30,  '31,  '32,  and  '33;  together  with  the 
amount  of  du':es  received  in  each  year,  and  the  rate  of  said  duties.  (Instead  of  seven 
shillings  sterling,  the  English  price,  the  price  of  these  articles  here  averages  about  eight 
cents.) 


APPENDIX. 


30U 


ARTICLES. 

Years. 

Quantities 
entered  for 
Home  Con- 
sumption. 

Amount  of  Duty 
received  thereon. 

Rates  of  Duty  charged. 

1829 
1830 
1831 
1832 
1833 

1829 
1830 
1831 
1832 
1833 

1829 
1830 
1831 
1832 
1833 

1829 
1830 
1831 
1832 
1833 

Lbs. 

6,862 
1,528 
2,547 
1,477 
4,142 

value. 
£270 

81b.     12 
Lbs. 
1,118 
2,471 
3,541 
3,663 
4,559 

13,035 

18,093 
8,722 
15.738 
40^11 

£       s.    d. 
621      4    2 
191      0    0 
280      7    3 
194    12    6 
517     15    0 

1     15    3 

7    6 

139     15    0 
308     17    6 
443    12    6 
457     17    6 
569    19    5 

1,303     10    0 
1,809     16    0 
872      4    0 
1,673     16    0 
3,191       2    2 

}-2s.  6d.  per  pound. 

J 

}.£75  per  cwt.  ad  valorem 
do.  or  10s.  per  pound 

V2s.  6d.  per  pound. 
j>2s.  per  pound. 

r 

Extract  of  Nux  Vomica  .  .  .  .1 
Cocculus  Indicus                    < 

Paradise  and  Guinea  grains- 

WILLIAM  IRVING, 

Inspector-  General  of  Imports  and  Exports. 
Inspector-General's  Office,  Custom  House,  ) 
London,  27th  June,  183  1.                 \ 

The  following  are  a  few  out  of  a  large  number  of  instances  of  the  prosecution  and  eoa- 
viction  of  English  brewers,  between  the  years  1813  and  1819,  for  receiving  and  using 
illegal  ingredients  in  brewing  : — 

Richard  Gardner,  for  using  adulterating  ingredients,  £100. 

Stephen  Webb,  and  another,  for  using  adulterating  ingredients  and  mixing  srrotJk  and 
table  beer,  £500. 

Henry  Wyatt,  brewer,  do.,  verdict  £400. 

Philip  Blake  and  others,  do.,  verdict  £250. 

John  Swain,  do.,  verdict  £200. 

John  Gray,  do.,  £300  and  costs. 

Richard  Bowman,  for  using  liquid  in  bladder,  supposed  to  be  extract  of  cocculus  TUJ'CUR, 
£100  and  costs. 

S.  Stephens,  for  do.,  £50. 

James  Rogers,  do.,  £220  and  costs. 

George  Moore,  for  using  coloring,  £300  and  costs. 

Webb  &  Ball,  for  using  ginger,  Guinea  pepper,  and  brown  powder,  (name  unknown,) 
1st,  £100,  2d,  £500. 

Henry  Clark,  for  using  molasses,  £150. 

Kewell  &  Burrows,  for  using  cocculus  indicus,  multum,  &c.,  £100. 

Alatson  &  Abrahams,  for  using  cocculus,  multum  and  porter  flavor,  &c.,  £630. 

Swain  &  Sewel,  for  using  cocculus,  Guinea  opium,  &c.,  £200. 

John  Gray,  for  using  ginger,  hartshorn  shavings,  and  molasses,  £300. 

Mr.  Betteley,  for  using  wormwood,  coriander  seed,  and  Spanish  juice,  £200. 

Convictions  of  druggists,  for  the  sale  of  adulterating  ingredients,  have  been  numerous 
in  England,  but  notwithstanding  the  heavy  penalties,  the  occupation  of  brewers'  druggist 


j    301  APPENDIX. 


is  stiil   carried  on,  and  becoming  an  extensive  business.     We  shall  give  bi  t  a  single 
instance : — 

1817.— Josiah  Nibbs,  Surrey. 


Multum      .    .  ...  84  Ibs. 

Cocculus  Indicus     .....  12  Ibs. 

Coloring     ........  4  galls. 

Hartshorn  shavings      .. 


ga 
14  Ibs. 


Honey 180  Ibs. 

Spanish  juice 46  Ibs. 

Orange  powder 17  Ibs. 


Ginger 56  Ibs. 

Penalty,  £300. 

But  if  these  articles  are  constantly  used,  the  question  may  be  asked,  why  there  are  no 
more  convictions?  Perhaps  the  following  item  of  evidence,  given  by  an  excise  officer, 
Mr.  Wells,  on  an  examination  before  a  Committee  of  the  House  of  Commons,  may  throw 
some  light  on  the  subject.  He  stated  that  the  "  adulterating  ingredients  were  not  kept  on 
tlto  premises,  but  in  the  brewer's  house,  and  that  the  brewer  had  a  very  large  jacket, 
ma<ir  expressly  for  that  purpose,  with  very  large  pockets,  and  that  on  brewing  mornings 
he  would  take  his  pockets  full  of  the  different  ingredients.  Witness  supposed  that  such 
a  ujun's  jacket,  similar  to  what  lie  had  described,  would  carry  quite  sufficient  for  any 
brewery  in  England,  as  to  cocculus  indicus." 


(16).— Page  207. 

WINE. 

T<.  the  very  excellent  and  judicious  remarks  of  Dr.  Pereira,  respecting  the  dietetical 
and  'uedicinal  uses  of  wine,  there  needs  but  little  to  be  added.  Those  who  wish  for  further 
detaHs  upon  the  subject,  may  consult  our  American  edition  of  "  Bacchus,"  passim.  \Ve 
may  However,  be  permitted  to  offer  a  few  considerations. 

[t  uas  been  pnwed  by  abundant  experience,  that  those  who  have  been  accustomed  to 
the  .iHily  moderate  or  immoderate  use ^of  wine,  as  well  of  other  alcoholic  stimulants,  may 
not  '>nly  omit  their  use  with  safety,  but  with  very  great  benefit.  The  effects  of  \\int,  a.s 
(Ir-srnbed  by  our  author,  prove  that  it  is  a  valuable  stimulant,  and  a  highly  useful  medi- 
cu»ix  :D  some  states  of  the  system  ;  but  these  very  facts  show  very  conclusively  that  it  is 
nor  u  proper  agent  to  be  drank  habitually  in  a  state  of  health.  Some  wine-drinkers,  it  is 
tni'--  have  lived  to  a  good  old  age  ;  and  so  also  have  some  persons  who  resided  in 
ma.arious  districts  of  country,  but  these  facts  do  not  prove  that  wine  or  malaria  are  con- 
ger, uil  to  the  human  constitution ;  they  indeed  constitute  exceptions  to  a  general  law  of 
an  »pposite  character. 

to*  however,  it  is  a  very  common  opinion  that  it  is  dangerous  to  break  off  suddenly 
tr«>'i*  the  use  of  stimulating  drinks,  the  following  facts  may  assist  in  correcting  this 
err j  neons  opinion. 

fti  1833,  Mr.  Dwight,  the  Secretary  of  the  Prison  Discipline  Society,  reported  that  in  the 
JVhiinn  Stato  Prison,  where  no  person  is  allowed  to  drink  any  kind  of  stimulating  liquor, 
"•  r>«  prisoner  had  died  from  a  natural  cause  since  the  organization  of  the  prison,"  (about 
tni  -e  years.)  "  An  important  experiment,"  he  remarks,  "  has  been  made  in  this  prison,  of 
rin  -rfect  on  health  of  cutting  off  habitual  drunkards  at  once  from  the  use  of  spirituous 

iq  -v»  s  in  every  form,  and  confining  them  to  cold  water.  It  has  been  found  invariably 
beneficial.  They  soon  renewed  their  youth,  and  a  more  hale,  healthy,  muscular  body  of 
men  cannot  be  found  in  prison,  or  out  of  prison,  than  the  cold-water  convicts  in  the 
quarry  of  the  Maine  prison.  It  is  an  experiment,  also,  to  show  that  hard  labor  can  be 
performed  on  good  food  and  cold  water.  As  evidence  of  this,  it  is  only  necessary  to  see 

these  men  handle  rocks." 


APPENDIX.  305    I 


From  the  State  Prison  in  New  Hampshire,  it  is  reported,  by  the  same  agent,  that  "  the 
same  valuable  experiment  has  been  made,  as  in  Maine,  concerning  the  effect  of  cutting 
off  drunkards  from  the  use  of  ardent  spirit,  and  with  the  same  results."  In  the  report 
from  the  Vermont  Prison,  it  is  also  stated  that  the  same  valuable  experiment  has  been 
made  in  Vermont,  as  in  New  Hampshire  and  Maine,  of  the  effect  of  cutting  off  habitual 
drunkards  from  the  use  of  ardent  spirit,  and  with  the  same  delightful  results  with  regard 
to  health.  The  subjects  of  such  treatment  renew  their  health  directly."  In  the  prison  at 
Sing  Sing,  in  this  state,  this  truth  is  confirmed  by  a  still  more  decisive  experiment.  The 
keeper  says  "  the  men  neither  suffer  nor  die  from  abstinence,  though  they  have  been 
formerly  intemperate  ;  nor  is  there  any  want  of  ability  to  work  hard  all  the  time,  on 
wholesome  food  and  good  water."  From  the  Auburn  Prison,  where  there  are  on  an  average 
not  less  than  450  convicts,  the  keeper  reports  that  "they  are  strictly  prohibited  the  use 
of  ardent  spirit  and  tobacco,  except  as  a  medicine,  and  it  has  been  found  invariably  that 
the  most  besotted  drunkards  have  never  suffered  in  their  health  from  that  course,  but 
almost  as  uniformly  their  health  has  been  improved."  The  account  given  by  Dr.  Wood- 
ward, of  the  experiment  in  the  State  Prison  of  Connecticut,  shows  the  same  salutary 
results. — (Second  Annual  Report  ofthe'Prison  Discipline  Society,  1827.) 

To  this  we  may  add,  that  since  the  above  report  was  written,  from  which  these  ex- 
tracts are  made,  thousands  of  drunkards,  and  tens  of  thousands  of  immoderate  drinkers 
of  alcoholic  liquors  in  the  U.  States  and  Great  Britain,  have  suddenly  abstained  from  their 
use,  and  in  nearly  every  instance  with  perfect  safety.  If  then  it  be  true,  as  these  facts 
abundantly  show,  that  the  sudden  withdrawal  of  ardent  spirits  may  be  practised  with  entire 
impunity,  no  one  certainly  ought  to  doubt  that  those  accustomed  to  the  use  of  the  milder 
stimulant — wine — may  discontinue  its  use  with  safety  and  advantage. 

"  To  persons  in  health,"  says  Dr.  Pereira,  in  his  "  Elements  of  Materia  Medica,"  "  the 
dietetical  employment  of  wine  is  either  useless  or  pernicious."  In  general,  we  are  com- 
pelled to  maintain  that  it  is  both.  Dr.  Beaumont,  in 'his  experiments  upon  St.  Martin, 
found  that  wines,  as  well  as  distilled  spirits,  invariably  interfered  with  the  regularity  and 
completeness,  of  digestion,  and  always  produced  morbid  changes  in  the  mucous  mem- 
brane of  the  stomach,  although  not  always  connected  with  unpleasant  feelings  or  dimin- 
ished appetite.  But  if  wine  does  not  aid  digestion,  it  certainly  does  not  enable  a  person  to 
endure  mo?e  fatigue  or  incur  greater  exposures  of  temperature  and  weather  than  he  could 
otherwise  do.  The  following  remarks  of  Dr.  Bell,  of  Philadelphia,  doubtless  express  the 
truth  on  this  point.  "  The  recorded  experience  of  men  in  all  situations  and  climates,  under 
all  kir.iis  of  labor  and  exposure,  prove  that  abstinence  from  alcoholic  liquors  gives  in- 
creased itbilit}'  to  go  through  the  labors  of  the  farm  and  the  workshop,  to  resist  heat  and 
cold,  an-l  to  encounter  hardships  on  sea  and  land,  beyond  what  has  ever  been  done  under 
the  unnatural  excitement  of  alcohol,  followed,  as  it  always  is,  by  depression  and  debility, 
if  not  by  fever  arid  other  diseases.  The  observations  of  naval  and  military  surgeons  and 
commanders  are  now  pretty  uniformly  to  the  same  purport,  and  their  testimony  is  ad- 
verse to  the  issue  of  rations  of  spirits,  or  of  alcoholic  drinks  generally,  to  men  in  the 
army  and  navy." — ("  On  Regimen,"  p.  359.) 

(17.)— Page  209. 
ADULTERATION  OF  WINES. 

SHERRY. 

Mr.  McCulloch  remarks  that  "perhaps  no  wine  is  so  much  adulterated  as  Sherry" 
Again  he  observes,  "  When  Madeira  was  a  fashionable  wine  in  England,  every  sort  of 

20 


IP 

:W5  APPENDIX. 


deception  was  practised  w  th  respect  to  it,  and  large  quantities  of  spurious  trash  were  dis- 
posed of  for  the  genuine  vintage  of  the  island.  This  naturally  brought  the  wine  into  dis- 
repute, so  that  Sherry  has  been  for  several  years  the  fashionable  white  wine.  It  is  diffi- 
cult, however,  to  imagine  *hat  adulteration  was  ever  practised  to  a  greater  extent  upon 
Madeira  than  is  now  practised  upon  Sherry."  Redding  ("  On  Wines")  states  that  "  Sherry 
of  the  brown  kind,  and  of  low  price,  when  imported,  is  mingled  with  Cape  wines  and 
cheap  brandy,  the  washings  of  brandy  casks,  sugar-candy,  bitter  almonds,  and  similar 
preparations ;  while  the  color,  if  too  great  ior  Pale  Sherry,  is  taken  out  by  the  addition  of  a 
small  quantity  of  lamb's  blood,  and  then  passed  off  for  the  best  Sherry,  by  one  class  of 
wine-sellers  and  advertisers.  The  softness  of  good  Sherry  is  closely  imitated." 

The  basis  of  the  Pale  Sherries  sold  in  our  market,  is  Brown  Sherry,  which  may  gener- 
ally be  purchased  at  a  lower  price  ;  to  this  is  added  Cape,  Brandy  Coice,  Extract  of 
Almond  Cake,  Cherry  Laurel  Water,  Gum  Benzoin,  and  Lamb's  Blood,  and  sometimes 
Raisin  Wine.  Large  vats  are  employed,  in  which  these  ingredients,  in  their  proper  pro- 
portions are  placed,  and  the  result  is,  that  eight  butts  of  high-priced  Pale  Sherry  are 
manufactured  out  of  four  butts  of  low-priced  Brown,  at  a  profit  of  some  five  hundred  per 
cent. ;  and  if  bottled,  the  profit  is  vastly  greater. 

PORT  WINE. 

A  large  proportion  of  the  Port  wine  drank  in  this  country,  is  a  purely  fictitious  article. 
But  much  of  it  is  manufactured  from  a  red  wine  imported  from  Marseilles  and  Bordeaux, 
at  about  ^0  cents  a  gallon,  called  French  Port,  which  is  made  into  "first-rate"  Oporto  by 
adding  burnt  sugar,  or  a  decoction  of  Brazil  wood,  and  a  portion  of  alcohol :  sometimes 
it  is  mixed  with  real  Port,  affording  a  very  large  profit  to  the  dealer.  Besides  this,  cheap 
red  wines  are  imported  from  Spain,  Portugal,  and  the  Cape,  which  are  readily  di.-. 
and  sold  for  real  Port.  In  mixing  and  adulterating,  a  variety  of  articles  are  used,  such  as 
Salt  of  Tartar,  Red  Sanders,  Gum  Dragon,  Berry-Dye,  Juice  of  Elder  Berries,  Cider,  Burnt 
Sugar,  &.c. 

But  a  very  small  portion  of  wine  professedly  exported  from  Oporto  as  pure  Port  wine, 
is  really  the  produce  of  that  country. 

This  will  appear  from  an  examination  of  the  following  Table  of  Exports  from  Oporto  to 
the  Channel  Islands,  with  the  Imports  from  the  Channel  Islands  to  London. 

Pipes  Exported  from  Oport*  Imported  from  the  Channel 

to  the  Channel  Island*.  Islands  to  London. 

1826 38 293 

1827 99 99 

1828 73 75 

1829 0 90 

1830 0 147 

1831 0 143 

1832 0 363 

1833 0  ...                 ...  862 

According  to  the  custom-house  books  of  Oporto*  for  the  year  1812,  135  pipes^  and  20 
hogshead  of  wine  were  shipped  for  Guernsey.  In  the  same  year  there  were  landed  at 
the  London  docks  alone,  2,545  pipes  and  162  hogsheads  from  that  island,  reported  to  be 
Port  wine — (Henderson  on  Modern  Wines.')  Morewood  states  that  one  half  the  Port  and 
5-6ths  of  the  white  wines  consumed  in  London  are  the  produce  of  the  home  presses. 

It  is  often  supposed  by  the  ignorant,  that  if  wine  can  be  purchased  with  the  custom- 
house mark  on  the  cask,  and  from  unler  the  custom-house  key,  there  can  be  no  question 
as  to  the  genuineness  of  the  article.  This  is,  however,  a  great  mistake,  as  the  above 
table  will  show.  The  following  extract  from  a  letter  of  an  agent  of  the  Oporto  Company, 


APPENDIX.  307 


in  defence  of  the  practice  of  adulterating  this  kin,d  of  wine,  will  throw  much  light  on  the 
subject. 

"The  English  merchants  knew  that  the  first-rate  wine  of  the  factory  had  become  ex- 
cellent ;  but  they  wished  it  to  exceed  the  limits  which  nature  had  assigned  to  it,  and  that 
when  drank,  it  should  feel  like  liquid  fire  in  the  stomach ;  that  it  should  burn  like  inflamed 
gunpowder ;  that  it  should  have  the  tint  of  ink  ;  that  it  should  be  like  the  sugar  of  Brazil 
in  sweetness,  and  like  the  spices  of  India  in  aromatic  flavor.  They  began  by  recommend- 
ing, by  way  of  secret,  that  it  was  proper  to  dash  it  with  brandy  in  the  fermentation  to  give  it 
strength,  and  with  elder  berries  or  the  rind  of  the  grape  to  give  it  color;  and  as  the  persons 
who  held  the  prescription  found  the  wine  increase  in  price,  and  the  English  merchants 
still  complaining  of  a  want  of  strength,  color,  and  maturity  in  "the  article  supplied,  the 
recipe  was  propagated  until  the  wines  bepame  a  mere  confusion  of  mixtures." 

MADEIRA. 

Good  Madeira  wine  is  rarely  to  be  obtained ;  the  greater  portion  of  what  goes  under 
that  name  being  a  fictitious  article.  A  cheap  Vidonia  or  Teneriffe  wine  is  mixed  with  a 
small  portion  of  common  dry  Port,  Mountain,  and  Cape  wine,  which  is  fined  and  reduced 
to  the  proper  color  by  Lamb's  Blood,  or  Charcoal,  and  sold  readily  for  "  London  Madeira," 
or  "Old  London  Particular."  Whether  "East  India"  or  "West  India"  Madeira  has 
ever  seen  those  countries  is  extremely  problematical.  The  only  satisfactory  proof  in  such 
a  case,  is  to  journey  with  them. 

CHAMPAGNE. 

In  England,  Champagne  wine,  so  called,  is  often  prepared  from  the  juice  of  the  Goose- 
berry. We  are  told  (Reece's  "  Monthly  Gazette  of  Health,"  1829)  that  a  company  of 
Frenchmen  contracted  with  some  farmers  in  Herefordshire  for  a  considerable  quantity  of 
the  fresh  juice  of  certain  pears,  immediately  on  expression,  and  before  fermentation  had 
commenced  ;  from  which  they  made  an  excellent  brisk  wine,  resembling  the  finest  spark- 
ling Champagne,  and  not  to  be  distinguished  from  it.  Other  acid  fruits  have  also  been 
employed  for  the  same  purpose.  In  this  country,  the  best  Newark  cider  has  been  in  great 
demand  for  the  manufacture  of  Champagne  wines.  The  price  of  Champagne  varies 
here  from  twenty  shillings  to  thirteen  dollars  per  dozen.  If  it  be  true,  as  Mr.  Busby  states, 
that  genuine  Champagne  is  never  sent  out  of  France  at  less  than  three  francs  or  60  cents 
a  bottle,  we  must  conclude  that  a  large  portion  of  the  wine  sold  in  the  United  States 
under  that  name  cannot  be  genuine.'  This,  however,  may  be  a  mistake  on  the  part  of 
Mr.  Busby,  as  the  author  of  the  "  Wine  and  Spirit  Adulterator  Unmasked"  states  that 
the  poorest  kind  of  Champagne  may  be  purchased  at  about  twelve  francs  per  dozen.  It 
is,  however,  a  fact  of  general  notoriety  that  much  of  the  Champagne  drank  in  this  coun- 
try is  a  fictitious  article,  and  not,a  small  portion  of  it  is  adulterated  with  lead.  We  have 
detected  this  metal,  in  different  samples,  in  quantities  sufficient  to  exert  highly  dangerous 
effects  upon  the  system.  It  is  to  this  circumstance  that  the  English  writer  above  quoted 
refers,  when  he  observes,  "It  has  been  remarked  by  French  physicians,  as  they  have  oc- 
casionally been  called  in  to  attend  English  patients,  that  in  most  cases  the  indisposition 
of  our  countrymen,  when  they  are  in.  France,  can  be  ascribed  only  to  the  Champagne 
which  they  drink,  and  which,  owing  to  the  avidity  with  which  the  English  people  indulge 
themselves  in  its  consumption,  is  not  only  more  frequently,  than  otherwise,  supplied  to 
them  of  an  indifferent  kind,  but  of  a  sort  possessing  properties  which  have  the  most  per- 
nicious and  injurious  tendency  possible  to  the  constitution."  He  then  goes  on  to  speak 
of  lead  as  a  common  ingredient  in  low  priced  Champagne  wines  of  that  country.  Who- 


308  APPENDIX. 


ever,  therefore,  are  in  the  habit  of  drinking  Champagne,  should  be  very  particular  as  to 
the  quality  of  the  article. 

•  CLARET. 

There  is  perhaps  no  kind  of  wine  moie  often  adulterated  than  claret.  Vintners'  and 
grocers'  books  abound  with  recipes  for  making  it  of  the  most  approved  taste  and  color. 
In  general,  it  is  made  by  mixing  a  portion  of  Spanish  Red  wine,  and  Rough  Cider,  with  a 
quantity  of  inferior  Claret,  a  color  being  previously  added  to  the  cider  by  means  of  the 
Berry-Dye  or  Tincture  of  Brazil-wood,  or  Poke  Berries,  or  Syrup  made  of  Damson  plums, 
sugar,  and  wine,  and  may  be  manufactured  at  a  maximum  expense  of  about  two  cents  a 
bottle.  Even  much  of  the  wine  which  is  imported  as  Claret,  is  nothing  more  than  a 
compound  of  the  refuse  of  various  inferior  French  wines,  mixed  with  French  cider,  to 
which  a  portion  of  brandy  and  coloring  material  is  added.  It  is  prepared  in  large  vats, 
whence  it  is  racked  off  into  casks  or  drawn  off  into  bottles  and  shipped  to  its  destination. 
Much  of  it  is  what  is  called  "third  quality"  wine,  which  is  obtained  by  retreading  the  re- 
mains of  the  grapes  in  the  vat  (after  having  already  twice  undergone  this  process)  by 
the  occasional  addition  of  large  quantities  of  water,  which,  by  washing  the  pulp  of  the 
friiit,  becomes  impregnated  with  some  portion  of  vinosity. 

In  tasting  this  kind  of  wine  we  have  often  been  reminded  of  a  stanza  in  an  old  song — 

"  One  glass  of  drink,  I  got  by  chance, 
'Twas  Claret  when  it  was  in  France ; 

But  now  from  it  moche  wider. 
I  think  a  man  might  make  as  good 
With  green  Crabbes,  boiled  in  Brazil-wood, 

And  hall"  a  pint  of  cider." 


(18.)— Page  222. 
MODE  OF  LIVING  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Americans,  it  is  said  by  foreign  travellers,  eat  faster,  if  not  more,  than  any  other  nation 
on  the  civilized  globe.  From  Capt.  Hall  down  to  Dickens,  the  complaint  has  con- 
stantly been,  that  in  dining  in  public  (we  hear  no  complaints  of  private  dinner  parties) 
they  have  hardly  had  time  to  finish  their  soup,  before  they  find  themselves  alone,  and  in 
the  way  of  the  servants.  We  believe  that  this  charge  will  apply  only  to  our  large  hotels 
in  cities,  where  the  guests  are  chiefly  transient  persons,  merchants  and  others,  visiting  the 
city  on  business,  and  who  have  not  a  moment  to  spare  in  which  to  accomplish  the  work 
they  have  laid  out.  We  know  houses  of  this  sort  in  this  city,  where  the  average  time  of 
sitting  at  table  at  dinner  is  fifteen  minutes.  But  we  have  no  doubt  that  the  same  haste 
is  exhibited  at  the  dining-tables  in  the  commercial  hotels  of  Liverpool,  and  most  other 
commercial  places.  The  practice  itself  is  a  highly  pernicious  one,  leading,  as  it  does,  to 
indigestion,  and  the  usual  evils  which  follow  in  its  train*.  Healthy  digestion  is  only  com- 
patible with  perfect  mastication  and  insalivation.  These  are  impracticable  where  there 
is  much  haste  in  eating.  In  private  families  we  suppose  there  is  as  much  deliberation  in 
eating  among  us  as  in  Great  Britain  or  any  other  nation. 

We  fully  agree  in  the  following  remarks  of  the  late  Dr.  Avery  on  the  mode  of  living  :n 
the  United  States:  "As  a  people,  we  eat  far  too  much  hearty  food ;  that  is,  we  take  in 
more  rich  nutriment  than  we  require,  and  the  consequence  is,  our  system  becomes  ove/- 
loaded  and  oppressed,  our  organs  are  clogged  in  the  performance  of  their  several  func- 
tions, the  circulating  fluids  become  too  thick  and  stimulating,  and  the  proneness  to 
derangements  and  diseased  action  greatly  increased.  Hence  arises  a  large  proportion  of 


APPENDIX.  309 

the  inflammatory  a/id  febrile  diseases  among  us.  Hence  it  is  that  copious  blood-letting 
and  active  medicines  are  so  much  more  required  in  America  than  in  most  other  coun- 
tries— a  fact  admitted  by  all  those  physicians  whose  opportunities  of  observation  have 
enabled  them  to  form  a  correct  opinion  on  the  subject." — (The  Dyspeptic' s  Monitor,  p.  74.) 


(19.)— Page  232. 

DIETARIES  FOR  CHILDREN  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

The  dietaries  of  orphan  asylums  and  other  establishments  for  children  in  the  United 
States  are  very  similar,  and  generally  do  not  vary  essentially  from  the  mode  of  living 
adopted  in  respectable  private  families.  Milk  is  generally  substituted  for  tea  and  coffee, 
and  allowed  morning  and  evening,  with  bread  and  molasses.  Meat  is  usually  furnished 
for  dinner,  with  vegetables,  either  daily  or  four  times  a  week  at  least.  Plain  molasses  or 
sugar-cakes  twice  a  week  at  supper.  Rice,  puddings,  vegetables,  and  fruit  are  also  freely 
allowed. 

For  some  years  past  there  has  been  a  controversy  going  on  in  relation  to  the  best  diet- 
aries for  children,  and  some  experiments  have  been  tried,  in  order  to  ascertain,  if  possi- 
ble, whether,  as  a  general  rule,  animal  or  vegetable  food  is  best  adapted  for  their  health 
and  nourishment.  The  vegetable-eaters  claim  that  the  results  are  on  their  side  of  the 
question,  while  the  supporters  of  animal  food  are  quite  as  positive  that  they  have  the  best 
of  the  argument.  Without  undertaking  to  decide  the  question,  though  our  own  opinion 
is  in  favor  of  a  mixed  diet,  we  shall  give  an  account  of  an  experiment  made  in  the  Or- 
phan Asylum  of  Albany,  as  first  published  in  the  Northampton  Courier : 

The  institution  was  established  about  the  close  of  the  year  1829,  or  the  beginning  of 
the  year  1830.  Shortly  after  its  establishment  it  contained  70  children,  and  subsequently 
many  more*  For  the  first  three  years  the  diet  of  the  inmates  consisted  of  fine  bread, 
rice,  Indian  puddings,  potatoes  and  other  vegetables,  arid  fruit  with  milk ;  to  which  was 
added  flesh  or  flesh  soup,  once  a  day.  Considerable  attention  was  also  paid  to  bathing 
and  cleanliness,  and  to  clothing,  air,  and  exercise.  Bathing,  however,  was  performed  in 
a  perfect  manner  only  once  in  three  weeks.  Many  were  received  in  poor  health,  and 
not  a  few  continued  sickly. 

In  the  fall  of  1833  the  diet  and  regimen  of  the  inmates  were  materially  changed.  Daily 
ablution  of  the  whole  body,  in  the  use  of  the.  cold  shower  or  sponge  bath,  or,  in  cases  of 
special  disease,  the  tepid  bath,  was  one  of  the  first  steps  taken ;  then  the  fine  bread  was 
laid  aside  for  that  made  of  unbolted  wheat  meal,  and  soon  after  flesh  and  flesh  soups 
were  wholly  banished ;  and  thus  they  continued  to  advance,  till  in  about  three  months 
more  they  had  come  fully  upon  the  vegetable  system,  and  had  adopted  reformed  habits 
in  regard  to  sleeping,  air,  clothing,  exercise,  &c.  They  continued  on  this  course  till  Au- 
gust, 1836,  when  the  results  were  as  follow : — During  the  first  three  years  in  which  the 
old  system  was  followed,  from  four  to  six  children  were  continually  on  the  sick  list,  and 
sometimes  more.  A  physician  was  needed  once,  twice,  or  three  times  a  week,  uniformly, 
and  deaths  were  frequent.  During  this  whole  period  there  were  between  thirty  and  forty 
dsaths.  After  the  new  system  was  fairly  adopted,  the  nursery  was  soon  entirely  vacated, 
and  the  services  of  the  nurse  and  physician  no  longer  needed,  and  for  more  than  two 
years  no  case  of  sickness  or  death  took  place.  In  the  succeeding  twelve  months  there 
were  three  deaths,  but  they  were  new  inmates,  and  were  diseased  when  admitted,  and 
two  of  them  were  idiots.  The  Report  of  the  Managers  says,  K  Under  this  system  of 
dietetics  the  health  of  the  children  has  not  only  been  preserved,  but  those  who  came  to 


310  APPENDIX. 


the  asylum  weakly  have  become  healthy  and  strong,  and  greatly  increased  in  activity, 
cheerfulness,  and  happiness."  The  Superintendents  also  state,  that  "since  the  new- 
regimen  has  been  fully  adopted,  there  has  been  a  remarkable  increase  of  health,  strength, 
activity,  vivacity,  cheerfulness,  and  contentment  among  the  children.  The  change  of 
temper  is  very  great.  They  have  become  less  turbulent,  irritable,  peevish,  and  discon- 
tented, and  far  more  manageable,  gentle,  peaceable,  and  kind  to  each  other."  One  of 
them  further  adds,  "There  has  been  a  great  increase  in  their  mental  activity  and  power; 
the  quickness  and  acumen  of  their  perception,  the  vigor  of  their  apprehension,  and  the 
power  of  their  retention  daily  astonish  me." 

• 

Remarks. 

In  relation  to  the  above  experiment,  we  may  remark  that  the  results  appear  to  us  to 
be  owing  more  to  the  changes  made  in  the  general  regimen,  air,  cleanliness,  bathing,  ex- 
ercise, &c.,  than  to  the  substitution  of  vegetable  for  animal  food.  In  order  to  be  satisfac- 
tory, the  experiment  should  have  been  conducted  with  reference  to  the  diet  alone.  As  it 
is,  we  do  not  see  how  it  can  be  quoted,  as  it  has  been,  as  furnishing  satisfactory  evidence 
of  the  superiority  of  vegetable  over  animal  diet  We  have  often  known  the  same  im- 
provement take  place  among  children  in  private  families  by  the  daily  use  of  the  shower 
bath,  without  making  any  alteration  in  their  manner  of  living.  The  experiment,  how- 
ever, is  a  very  valuable  One,  as  it  shows  the  great  advantages  which  flow  from  a  well- 
regulated  system  of  air,  exercise,  and  bathing. 

In  proof  of  the  correctness  of  our  opinion  that  the  favorable  results  in  this  institution 
were  not  owing  to  a  change  of  diet,  we  may  refer  to  a  similar  experiment  in  a  school  in 
Germany,  as  contained  in  the  "American  Annals  of  Education"  for  August,  1836.  II»»re 
meat  was  allowed,  though  the  food  is  stated  to  have  consisted  chiefly  of  bread  and  other 
vegetables,  fruits  and  milk  ;  but  cold  bathing  was  practised  daily.  The  results,  as  stated 
by  the  teacher,  were  as  follows : 

"I  am  at  present  the  foster-father  of  nearly  seventy  young  people,  who  were  born  in 
all  the  varieties  of  climate  from  Lisbon  to  Moscow,  and  whose  early  education  was  neces- 
sarily very  different  These  young  men  are  all  healthy;  not  a  single  eruption  is  visible 
on  tlu>ir  faces;  and  three  years  often  pass  during  which  not  a  single  one  of  them  is  con- 
fined to  his  bed :  and  in  the  twenty  years  that  I  have  been  engaged  in  this  institution,  not 
one  pupil  has  died.  Yet  I  am  no  physician.  During  the  first  ten  years  of  my  residence 
here,  no  physician  entered  my  house;  and  not  till  the  number  of  my  pupils  was  very 
much  increased,  and  I  grew  anxious  not  to  overlook  any  thing  in  regard  to  them,  did  I 
begin  to  seek  at  all  for  medical  advice.  It  is  the  modS  of  treating  the  young  men  here 
which  is  the  cause  of  their  superior  health;  and  this  is  the  reason  why  death  has  not  yet 
entered  our  doors.  Should  we  ever  deviate  from  our  present  principles — should  we 
approach  nearer  the  mode  of  living  common  in  wealthy  families — we  should  soon  be 
obliged  to  establish  in  our  institution,  as  they  do  in  others,  medicine-chests,  nurser- 
ies, &c." 

In  individual  cases,  after  children  have  acquired  their  first  teeth,  we  have  seen  no 
advantages  follow  from  confining  them  exclusively  to  vegetable  diet,  except  in  disease ; 
but,  on  the  contrary,  we  have  known  great  improvement,  especially  among  the  children 
of  the  poor,  from  a  more  liberal  allowance  of  animal  food,  anc  we  doubt  not  that  the 
dietaries  of  children  should  be  formed  on  this  principle. 

P.  S.  Since  writing  the  above,  we  have  conversed  with  one  of  the  founders  and  princi- 
pal managers  of  the  Albany  "Orphan  Asylum,"  and  find  that  the  change  in  the  health 
of  the  children  could  not  with  propriety  be  attributed  to  the  substitution  of  wgeta'ble  for 


APPENDIX. 


311 


animal  food.  During  the  first  few  years  after  the  establishment  of  the  institution,  it  was 
located  in  a  poorly  ventilated  building,  in  one  of  the  most  crowded  streets  in  the  city  of 
Albany,  where  fresh  air  and  proper  exercise  were  out  of  the  question,  and  cleanliness 
was  next  to  impossible.  At  the  commencement  of  the  experiment  above-mentioned,  the 
children  were  removed  into  a  large,  commodious,  and  exceedingly  well  ventilated  build- 
ing, situated  out  of  the  city,  and  in  one  of  the  most  delightful  spots  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Albany.  In  addition  to  cold  bathing,  every  morning  the  children  were  required  to 
take  an  abundance  of  exercise — were  confined  but  three  0r  four  hours  daily  in  school, 
instead  of  six  or  seven,  and  were,  moreover,  allowed  meat  occasionally,  though  the  prin- 
cipal part 'of  the  diet  consisted  of  milk,  potatoes,  Indian  mush,  and  a  plenty  of  good  bread. 

NEW  YORK  ORPHAN  ASYLUM. 


Breakfast Bread  and  molasses,  with 


Dinner 


Monday  .  . 
Tuesday  .  . 
Wednesday 
Thursday  . 

Friday  .  .  . 

Saturday  . 
Sunday  .  . 


cup  of  milk,  or  milk  and  water. 
Other 


Supper  .... 


{  Indian  mush,  with  milk  or  molasses 
(        vegetables. 

.  Soup  and  vegetables,  bread,  &c. 

(  Meat,  hashed  with  potatoes,  and  other  vege- 
l         tables. 

.  Indian  mush,  or  rice  and  molasses,  or  milk 

{ Mashed  fish   and  potatoes,   (generally  cod, 
(         fresh  or  salt.) 

.  Soup,  &c.,  as  on  Tuesday. 
.  Cold  roast  beef  and  vegetables. 

On  Sunday,  bread 


5  Bread  and  milk,  or  bread  and  molasses. 
I         and  butter,  or  gingerbread. 


Remarks. 

There  are  108  boys  and  52  girls  in  the  institution.  Beef  is  the  meat  chiefly  used.  On 
Tuesdays  and  Saturdays  sixty  pounds  of  best  quality  of  rounds  of  beef  are  purchased, 
making  one  hundred  and  twenty  pounds  weekly.  On  Saturdays  the  meat  is  boiled  suffi- 
ciently for  soup,  then  roasted  and  set  aside  to  be  eaten  cold  on  Sunday.  The  bread  is 
baked  in  the  institution.  Four  and  a  half  barrels  of  flour  are  used  per  week,  and  half  a 
barrel  of  Indian  meal.  About  425  bushels  of  potatoes  annually.  Three  cows  are  kept 
on  the  premises,  and  a  small  quantity  of  milk  is  purchased,  amounting  to  about  fifteen 
dollars  annually.  Milk  is  allowed  night  and  morning,  and  once  a  week  for  dinner.  The 
children  are  kept  in  school  six  hours  a  day,  and  bathe  in  tepid  water  every  Saturday. 
The  deaths  have  averaged  about  two  and  a  half  annually.  The  children  are  allowed  to 
eat  what  they  want,  within  moderation.  Though  the  children  appear  satisfied  with  their 
diet,  yet  they  have  not  that  florid  and  healthy  appearance  which  is  characteristic  of 
rugged  health.  We  believe  that  if  meat  were  allowed  daily  in  moderate  quantity,  it 
would  be  an  improvement  in  their  system  of  diet;  and  if  required  to  take  more  exercise, 
it  would  doubtless  contribute  to  their  health.  The  ophthalmia,  which  was  formerly  very 
prevalent  in  the  institution,  (and  probably  caused  by  want  of  ventilation  and  cleanliness, 
with  perhaps  too  low  a  dieO  ;s  now  almost  unknown. 


312  APPENDIX. 


DIETARY  OF  THE  NEW  YORK  PROTESTANT  HALF-ORPHAN  ASYLUM. 


(  Monday— Bean-soup  with  bread. 

'1 \uxday—  Mutton  soup,  with  vegetables,  (potatoes,  turnips,  carrots,)  bread. 
Wednesday — Mutton,  hashed   with  potatoes  and  rice  ;  clam-soup,  during  the  summer 

months,  with  potatoes  and  rice  ;  or  balls  of  flour  boiled,  with  rice, 
r)  •  Thursday — Beef-soup,  with  vegetables  and  bread. 

Fivlay— Beef,  hashed  with  potatoes  and  rice,  bread. 
|  Saturday— Bread  and  butter,  or  rice. 

•Sunday— Cold  corned  beef  and  bread,  except  during  the  summer  months,  when  crack- 
ers and  cheese  are  substituted  for  ealt  meat,  which  was  found  to  produce 
^  bowel  complamts. 

J    l^reaJ  and  milk  for  the  smaller  children ;  bread  with  molasses,  or  sugar,  or  honey  for 
J  tne  iarger  ones. 

Supper    .      Plain  bread,  except  on  Sunday  night,  when  gingerbread  is  allowed. 


REMARKS. — The  number  of  inmates  ranges  from  154  to  180;  ages  from  3  to  9  years. 
22  quarts  of  milk  are  furnished  daily,  at  5J  cents  per  quart.  Once  a  week  the  children 
are  bathed  in  cold  Croton  water,  except  during  the  hot  months,  when  the  larger  children 
are  taken  to  the  cold  salt-water  bath  in  the  river.  They  remain  in  school  six  hours  per 
day.  50  Ibs.  of  mutton  are  purchased  twice  a  week,  and  50  Ibs.  of  beef,  ditto.  Occa 
sionally  codfish  and  potatoes,  and  fruit  in  its  season,  are  furnished. 


(20.)— Page  241. 
AMERICAN  DIETARIES  FOR  PAUPERS. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  American  paupers  fare  better,  as  it  respects  their  diet,  than 
those  of  any  other  nation  on  the  globe.  A  comparison  of  the  Tables  which  we  shall  give 
below,  with  those  of  Great  Britain,  contained  in  the  body  of  the  work,  will  show  a  great 
superiority  in  favor  of  the  former.  Gruel,  which  forms  with  bread  the  breakfast  of  Eng- 
lish paupers,  is  seldom,  if  ever,  seen  in  our  Almshouses;  but  in  place  of  it,  tea  or  cof- 
fee, milk  or  milk-porridge  and  bread,  and  in  some  of  them  bread,  and  butter  ad  libitum, 
within  moderation.  Indeed,  there  is  generally  no  restriction  as  to  quantity,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  meat :  of  which,  in  some  establishments,  nearly  a  pound  is  allowed  for  dinner 
The  effect  of  this  generous  mode  of  living,  though  highly  favorable  to  health,  is  expen- 
sive,  and  renders  an  Almshouse  residence,  especially  during  the  winter,  quite  desirable 
to  a  large  class  of  our  city  poor.  Accordingly,  applications  for  admission  are  overwhelm- 
ingly numerous  during  the  fall  months ;  and  where  admission  cannot  be  secured,  in- 
stances are  by  no  means  unfrequent  where  petty-brceny  or  some  other  offence  is  commit- 
ted, for  the  very  purpose  of  being  sentenced  six  months,  the  usual  period  for  such  crimes, 
to  the  Penitentiary,  where  the  mode  of  living  does  not  materially  differ  from  that  of  the 
Almshouse.  The  whole  Almshouse  system  in  our  country  requires  a  radical  change, 
and  we  are  happy  to  learn  that  R.  M.  Hartley,  Esq.,  the  late  most  able  and  efficient  Agent 
of  the  New  York  City  Temperance  Society,  is  engaged  in  collecting  facts,  and  devising 
plans  for  improving  the  moral,  social,  and  physical  condition  of  our  poor  popula  To 

this  gentleman  we  are  indebted  for  much  of  the  information  which  we  give  on  this  subject 

DIETARY  OF  THE  BOSTON  ALMSHOUSE,  AND  HOUSE  OF  INDUSTRY. 

Dinners. — Sunday,  boiled  rice  and  molasses  ;  Monday,  beans,  baked  or  stewed,  and 
pork ;  Tuesday,  beef  and  soup,  vegetables  and  wheat  bread ;  Wednesday,  baked  beef, 
vegetables  and  wheat  bread ;  Thursday,  beef  and  soup,  vegetables  and  bread  ;  Friday, 
ealt  fish,  vegetables  and  bread  ;  Saturday,  beef  and  soup,  vegetables  and  bread. 

Breakfasts. — Tea  or  coffee,  and  white  bread  ;  suppers,  chocolate  and  white  bread.  The 


APPENDIX.  313 


diet  of  the  sick  is  regulated  by  the  medical  attendants.  The  number  of  children  in  the 
house  for  the  past  year  has  been  about  200,  which  deducted  from  the  average  number  of 
inmates,  571,  leaves  371  consumers  of  meat,  without  making  any  deduction  for  the  sick 
in  the  hospital.  350  Ibs.  of  best  beef  four  times  a  week,  at  4  cents  per  Ib. 

The  allowance  of  meat  for  each  ward  is  weighed  off  accoiding  to  the  number  of  per- 
sons, and  ratably  distributed  among  them.  The  bread,  which  contains  a  small  quantity 
of  Indian,  is  baked  in  the  establishment.  Excepting  meat,  the-.^  is  no  restriction  as  to 
the  quantity  of  food.  "  No  rebellions,"  says  Dr.  Smith,  "  are  to  oe  apprehended  in  the 
Boston  Almshouse,  like  that  which  lately  occurred  in  the  Poorhouse  in  Liverpool — be- 
cause the  appetite  is  satisfied.  A  story  is  abroad  of  an  Irish  pauper,  at  South  Boston, 
who  wrote  home,  advising  his  relatives  to  come  out  to  this  establishment  immediately,  as 
they  had  meal  twice  a  week.  We  regard  the  moral  and  dietetic  regulations  of  the  city's 
institutions  for  prisoners  and  paupers  as  superior  to  those  of  all  other  cities  or  towns  in 
the  United  States." 

BALTIMORE  ALMSHOUSE. 

The  following  is  the  general  diet  of  the  paupers  : — 

For  Breakfast — Bread,  and  rye  coffee  sweetened  with  molasses  ;  for  Supper,  bread,  and 
tea  sweetened  with  sugar. 

Dinner — On  Monday,  beef  and  soup  ;  Tuesday,  mush  and  molasses ;  Wednesday  and 
Thursday,  beef  and  soup  ;  Friday,  herring,  mush  and  molasses,  or  hommony  ;  Saturday, 
beef  and  soup  ;  and  on  Sunday,  pork  and  vegetables. 

Eight  oz.  of  beef,  or  five  oz.  of  pork  is  allowed  each  pauper  on  the  days  animal  food  is 
furnished ;  and  to  each  laboring  pauper,  twenty  oz.  of  bread  ;  and  to  all  others  over  one 
year  old,  sixteen  oz.  of  bread  per  diem. 

The  diet  of  the  sick  is  regulated  by  the  physicians. 

PROVIDENCE  ALMSHOUSE,  RHODE  ISLAND. 

The  diet  of  the  inmates  is  as  follows  : 

For  Breakfast — Coffee,  bread  and  butter,  one  morning,  and  alternately  milk  or  milk- 
porridge  and  bread. 

For  Supper — Tea,  bread  and  butter  one  night,  and  alternately  milk  or  milk-porridge 
and  bread. 

For  Dinner — Sunday,  flour  or  Indian  pudding  and  molasses  ;  Monday,  baked  beef  or 
pork  ;  Tuesday  and  Thursday,  soup  ;  Wednesday,  fresh  meat,  baked  or  roasted ;  Fri- 
day, pork  and  beans ;  Saturday,  salt  fish  and  potatoes. 

Brown  bread  is  used  by  all  except  the  sick. 

ALBANY  ALMSHOUSE. 

The  general  diet  of  the  paupers  consists  of  bread  and  bohea  tea  sweetened  with  mo- 
lasses, for  breakfast ;  soup  five  days  in  the  week,  and  fish  and  potatoes  two  days  in  the 
week  for  dinner ;  mush  and  milk,  or  mush  and  molasses,  for  supper. 

BELLEVUE  ALMSHOUSE  NEW  YORK. 

The  diet  in  this  Institution  is  as  follows  : — For  breakfast,  bread  and  tea,  the  tea  sweeten- 
ed with  molassfs,  and  a  little  milk.  For  dinner,  on  alternate  days,  meat  and  soup:  of 
beef,  17  Ibs.  are  allowed  for  15  rations  ;  of  pork,  three  fourths  of  a  pound  to  each  person, 
and  about  one  pound  of  bread  with  potatoes  ;  on  the  other  days,  mush  and  molasses 
with  bread.  For  supper,  the  same  as  breakfast.  A  woman  with  a  child,  is  allowed  one 


314  APPENDIX. 


and  a  half  pounds  of  bread  per  diem,  for  borh.  Each  woman  is  allowed  half  a  pint  of 
milk  per  day,  and  a  pound  of  tea  per  month.  The  bread  made  of  wheat  flour  is  baked 
at  the  establishment. 

BLOCKLEY  ALMSHOUSE,  PHILADELPHIA. 

In  this  Institution  the  general  diet  of  the  inmates  is  as  follows : — 

Every  day  for  breakfast—  Coffee,  half  rye,  half  imported.  Every  day  for  supper — 
Chocolate  or  tea  ;  both  at  breakfast  and  supper  as  much  good  wheat  bread  is  allowed  as 
they  can  eat. 

Dinner. — On  Sunday,  soup  ;  Monday,  half  a  pound  of  beef,  of  which  the  soup  was 
made  on  Sunday ;  Tuesday,  hash,  made  of  the  fragments  of  beef;  Wednesday,  mush 
and  molasses.  Working  men  receiving  in  addition  thereto,  half  a  pound  of  meat  or 
soup  ;  Thursday,  the  same  as  Sunday,  Friday  as  Tuesday,  and  Saturday  as  Wednesday. 
Beside?,  potatoes  or  wheat  bread  are  allowed  every  day  for  dinner. 

The  diet  of  the  sick  is  entirely  regulated  by  their  medical  attendants.  No  pork  is  used 
in  the  establishment 


(21.)— Page  246. 
DIET  IN  AMERICAN  PRISONS. 

The  common  allowance  of  food  in  our  Penitentiaries  is  equivalent  to  one  pound  of 
meat,  one  pound  of  bread,  and  one  pound  of  vegetables,  per  day.  In  some  of  them  it 
varies  from  this,  but  it  is  generally  equivalent  to  it.  The  food  is  generally  wholesome 
and  well  prepared.  The  opinion  has  prevailed  that  the  convicts  in  our  Penitentiaries 
have  loo  much  food,  and  of  a  better  quality  than  they  ought  to  receive.  This,  however,  is 
a  mistake,  as  proved  by  further  investigation.  "  In  the  Milbank  Penitentiary  in  Great 
Britain,"  says  Mr.  Dwight,  the  agent  of  the  Prison  Discipline  Society,  "  an  experiment 
has  been  made  on  MAN,  as  to  the  quantity  of  food  necessary  to  keep  him  alive.  In  such 
extensive  establishments,  a  step  once  taken  may  lead  to  fatal  consequences  before  it  can 
be  retraced.  In  this  establishment  near  London,  the  advocates  of  a  severe  discipline  de- 
manded a  reduction  of  the  diet  of  the  prisoners,  and  a  calculation  was  aiade,  about  the 
close  of  the  year  1822,  to  ascertain  how  little  food  would  sustain  human  life.  There  was 
at  that  time  in  the  prison  about  800  convicts,  and  their  diet  was  reduced  to  half  a  pound 
of  bread  per  day,  and  the  soup  made  of  ox-heads,  in  the  proportion  of  one  ox-head  to  one 
hundred  males,  and  the  same  to  one  hundred  and  twenty  females.  A  general  decay  of 
health  was  apparent,  but  the  scurvy  did  not  appear  till  January,  1843.  The  cases  of  dis- 
ease increased  rapidly,  and  on  the  28th  of  February  one  hundred  and  eighteen  were 
sick,  and  on  the  tenth  of  April,  more  than  four  hundred.  It  was  found,  on  inquiry,  that 
the  meat  of  an  ox-head  weighed  only  eight  pounds,  which  being  divided  among  one  hun- 
dred, allows  only  one  ounce  and  a  quarter  to  each  prisoner.  To  this  diet,  the  College  of 
Physicians,  after  long  delay,  ascribed  the  production  of  the  disease.  It  became  necessary 
at  .ength,  to  remove  every  prisoner  from  the  establishment,  which  was  done,  and  the 
whole  wan  purified.  In  consequence  of  this  sickness,  the  House  of  Commons  resolved 
to  give  to  the  future  inmates  a  full  and  nutritive  diet,  as  to  quality  and  amount.  This 
experiment  on  human  life  may  be  of  great  use  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic,  by  pre- 
venting a  severity,  as  dangerous  to  life  as  excessive  indulgence  is  injurious  to  morals. 
The  experiment  shows  that  eight  ounces  of  bread,  and  one  and  a  quarter  of  meat,  cannot 
sustain  life;  it  does  not  show,  however,  that  three  pounds  of  food  per  day  are  necessary 


APPENDIX.  315 


to  life  and  health,  and  it  may  still  be  a  question  of  great  importance,  whether  the  Milbank 
Penitentiary  was  not  in  one  extreme,  and  the  Penitentiaries  in  the  United  States  in  the 
other  ;  so  that  the  subject  is  still  open  for  consideration  and  experiment,  though  it  is  ap- 
parent, from  the  experiment  at  Milbank,  that  it  should  be  conducted  with  great  discretion 
when  human  life  is  at  stake." 

Experiment  at  Lamlerlon,  New  Jersey,  in  relation  to  the  Food  of  Prisoners. 

An  experiment  was  made  a  few  years  since  upon  the  prisoners  at  Lainberton,  New 
Jersey,  confined  in  solitary  cells,  by  reducing  the  allowance  of  food.  The  men  on  whom 
the  experiment  was  tried,  were  confined  the  whole  term  of  their  sentence  in  solitary  cells. 
Some  of  them  had  been  confined  eighteen  months,  and  some  two  years.  Their  allowance 
of  food  was  only  half  the  allowance  of  the  men  who  were  employed  in  the  shops,  and  the 
allowance  of  the  men  in  the  shops  was  only  half  a  pound  of  meat,  together  with  one 
pound  of  bread,  one  gill  of  molasses,  and  about  half  a  pound  of  vegetables  per  day.  It 
is  stated  by  the  agent  of  the  "Prison  Discipline  Society,"  that  this  reduced  allowance  had  no 
injurious  effect  upon  the  health.  "  They  appeared,"  says  the  Report,  "  as  well,  at  least,  as 
any  class  of  prisoners  who  have  been  visited  in  this  country ;  and  the  keeper,  who  has  been 
thirteen  years  in  the  institution,  stated,  that  the  effect  of  solitary  confinement,  with  this 
diet,  had  been  very  good  ;  and  that  the  prisoners  all  left  the  cells  with  a  strong  determina- 
tion never  to  return  to  them,  and  no  one  had  yet  returned,  nor  did  he  believe  that  any  one 
ever  would  return.  If  he  was  correct  in  this  opinion — and  there  was  every  thing  in  the  ap- 
pearance and  conversation  of  the  prisoners  in  the  cells  to  induce  the  belief  that  he  was  cor- 
rect—then this  mode  of  punishment,  with  a  reduced  allowance  of  food,  is  much  better 
than  where  one  half  or  one  third  of  the  whole  number  of  prisoners  are  committed  a 
second,  third,  fourth,  fifth,  or  sixth  time,  which  is  the  fact  in  several  Penitentiaries  in  the 
United  States,  where  the  men  are  fed  abundantly."  We  may  be  permitted  to  express  a 
doubt,  in  opposition  to  the  apparent  result  of  the  above  experiment,  that,  where  food  is 
withheld  to  that  extent  as  to  amount  to  punishment,  the  health  of  the  prisoners  must  ne- 
cessarily suffer  in  a  greater  or  less  degree. 

To  illustrate  the  dietary  systems  in  our  prisons,  we  give  the  following,  out  of  a  large 
number  which  we  might  present,  as  they  will  serve  to  show  sufficiently  the  mode  of 

living  in  these  establishments. 

i 

DIETARY  OF  THE  NEW  YORK  CITY  PRISON. 


f  Monday — Mush  and  Molasses. 

l^iesday — Beef  with  soup  and  bread. 

\     Wednesday — Mush  and  molasses. 
Dinner  «j    Thursday— Fresh  boiled  beef,  with  soup  and  bread. 

I    Friday — Mush  and  jVIolasses. 

I    Saturday — Fresh  beef,  and  soup  with  bread. 

L   Sunday — Mush  and  molasses. 
Breakfast    .          Coffee,  with  molasses  boiled  in  it,  and  bread. 


REMARKS.— No  other  meat  than  beef  is  furnished,  and  this  consists  of  hocks  and  the 
coarser  parts.  It  is  estimated  that  one  half  the  weight  of  the  beef  consists  of  bone  ;  on 
the  days,  therefore,  on  which  meat  is  allowed,  a  sufficient  quantity  is  purchased  to  al- 
low one  pound  exclusive  of  waste,  to  each  prisoner.  If  more  is  asked  for,  it  is  allowed. 
There  are  but  two  meals  a  day,  the  first  at  9  A.M.  Dinner  at  half-past  two  P.M.,  (no  sup- 
per.) The  coffee  is  half  rye  and  half  coffee,  (cheapest  kind.)  The  bread  is  n  ade  of 
an  inferior  kind  of  flour ;  looks  a  good  deal  like  Graham  bread,  and  is  baked  at  the 
Almshouse.  No  potatoes  or  other  vegetables  are  furnished  during  about  half  the  year, 


316  APPENDIX. 


say  from  March  to  October,  and  the  soup  is  made  during  the  whole  of  this  time  from 
beef  alone,  or  with  (occasionally)  crumbs  of  bread  boiled  in  it.  The  number  of  prisoners 
ranges  from  130  to  180,  the  average  being  about  150.  The  cells  are  small  and  poorly 
ventilated.  In  consequence  of  recent  complaints,  the  Commissioners  of  the  Almshouse 
are  making  airangements  to  furnish  the  prisoners  with  potatoes  and  rice. 

BOSTON  HOUSE  OF  CORRECTION 

The  diet  consists  of  the  following  materials,  viz : — 

18  oz.  No.  1  beef,  or  12  oz.  pork,  and  20  oz.  bread  per  diem. 

1  pint  black  tea  for  breakfast,  and  another  pint  for  supper. 
2t  bushels  of  potatoes  ior  100  rations. 

1  quart  of  .-nit  for 

2  oz.  black  pepper,     "       u        " 

Soup  is  occasionally  given,  with  bread  and  potatoes.  1,610  Ibs.  of  beef,  at4i  cents  per  Ib.  has  been  the 
weekly  allowance.  The  average  number  of  inmates  is  291. 

Instead  of  meat  each  day,  boiled  fresh  beef  is  now  allowed  three  days  in  each  week ; 
oeef  soup,  three  days  ;  and  one  day,  baked  beef.  The  allowance  of  meat  now  furnished, 
is  18  Ibs.  beef  daily  of  the  first  quality,  for  300  prisoners.  The  bread  contains  a  small 
quantity  of  Indian,  and  is  of  the  best  quality.  If  prisoners  ask  for  more  bread  than  the 
regular  allowance,  it  is  given  them.  It  is,  however,  part  of  an  individual's  punishment 
for  disobedience  of  orders,  to  be  shortened  in  the  allowance  of  food.  These  facts  are  ob- 
tained from  that  excellent  periodical,  the  **  Boston  Medical  and  Physical  Journal,"  and  are 
accompanied  by  the  following  remarks  of  the  able  editor,  Dr.  Smith. 

"  All  experience  teaches  that  men  can  be  easily  governed  when  they  are  well  fed. 
The  hungry  are  prompted,  by  the  goadings  of  an  empty  stomach,  to  the  worst  acts  in  the 
history  of  our  race.  It  is  a  sad  mistake  that  the  convicts  in  many  of  the  Penitentiaries  of 
this  country  are  kept  at  that  exciting  .point  of  hunger,  which  changes  man  into  a  devil  in 
feeling,  and  a  brute  in  conduct" 

(•>>.— Page  253.) 
DIETARY  OF  THE  NEW  YORK  HOSPITAL. 

For  dinner,  on  Tuesdays,  Wai  ncsdays,  Thursdays,  and  Saturdays,  beef  soup,  with  beef 
and  potatoes  and  bread.  On  Mondays,  Wednesdays,  and  Fridays,  mutton  soup,  with 
mutton,  potatoes,  and  bread.  On  Mondays,  boiled  rice,  with  one  gill  of  molasses.  For 
breakfast  and  supper,  bread  and  black  tea  ;  1  ounce  of  tea  to  every  six,  and  a  pint  of  milk 
to  evtry  8  patients. 

REMARKS. 

The  above  is  the  general  diet  of  the  patients  at  this  establishment,  including  about  two 
thirds  of  the  number.  Special  diet  is  directed  by  the  attending  physicians,  and  adapted 
to  the  circumstances  of  each  particular  case.  Eggs,  milk,  oysters  in  their  season,  crack- 
ens  chickens,  &c.,  are  allowed,  together  with  porter,  wine,  &c.  About  78  quarts  of  milk 
are  daily  used,  and  about  two  dozen  of  eggs;  2  being  allowed  to  a  patient.  The  number 
of  chickens  consumed,  averages  only  about  2  daily.  Little  or  no  butter,  and  no  cheese 
is  allowed.  100  Ibs.  of  beef  are  furnished  three  times  weekly  ;  and  100  Ibs.  of  mutton, 
three  days  also.  This  will  give  but  half  a  pound  of  meat  daily,  for  six  days  in  the  week, 
without  any  allowance  for  waste.  The  following  are  the  amounts  of  some  of  the  articles 
of  food  annually  used  in  the  establishment,  with  their  cost 


Beef 

Mutton 

Pork 

Poultry 

Fish 

Flour 


3-V78  Ib*. 
16,:>!4   " 
2,181    " 


3  J7  ban  Bis 


$2,09522 

76356 

106-86 

96-00 

81-00 

2,32337 


APPENDIX. 


317 


Meal       . 

2,463  Ibs. 

$56.00 

Rice 

6,804   " 

210.35 

Crackers 

, 

25.42 

Potatoes 

1,008  bushels 

237.71 

Vegetables 

. 

62.81 

Butter 

3,023  Ibs. 

485.05 

Fruit 

61.54 

Cheese 

100  Ibs! 

10.47 

Molasses 

734  gals. 

160.10 

Vinegar 

7bbls. 

22.75 

Tea 

1,510  Ibs. 

747.33 

Sugar 
Coffee 

12,636    " 
1,289    " 

772.78 
147.25 

Eggs 

38.49 

Milk 

31,139  quarts 

1,481.75 

Spices 

• 

. 

17.60 

Salt 

18  sacks,  3  bushels 

37.42 

Yeast 

. 

20.74 

Liquors  and  Wines 
Porter 

158.30 
184.75 

297  dozen 

The  patients  are  allowed  to  eat  ad  libitum,  within  moderation.  About  one  third  pay  for 
their  board,  either  in  whole  or  in  part ;  but  in  either  case,  their  fare  is  the  same,  unless 
it  is  furnished  from  out  the  house.  The  principal  objections  to  the  dietary  of  this  Hospital 
are  the  want  of  variety  in  the  food,  which  is  often  of  great  benefit  in  the  treatment  of  the 
sick,  and  the  small  allowance  of  meat.  It  is  a  question  worthy  of  consideration,  whether 
the  dietary  classification,  adopted  in  most  of  the  British  Hospitals,  would  not  be  an  im- 
provement in.  the  present  system.  We  do  not  mean  by  this,  to  recommend  the  plan  of 
dealing  out  portions  of  food  by  weight;  this  may  be  done  in  an  individual  case,  perhaps, 
like  that  of  Cornaro,  where  an  individual  has  no  control  over  himself,  but  it  can  never  be 
introduced  to  advantage  among  a  considerable  number  of  men.  Peas,  beans,  and  other 
vegetables  might  be  added  to  the  present  list,  and  a  more  liberal  allowance  of  fruit,  in 
its  season,  would  be  highly  desirable. 


(23.)— Page  257. 
DIETARIES  FOR  THE  INSANE  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Much  attention  has  been  paid  in  this  country  to  the  effects  of  diet  in  the  treatment  of 
insanity,  and  the  results  of  experiments  in  different  institutions  show  that  a  plentiful 
allowance  of  animal  and  vegetable  food,  of  the  most  wholesome  and  digestible  kind,  is  re- 
quired. The  adoption  of  a  liberal  diet  is  not  only  free,  in  such  cases,  from  any  exciting 
or  too  stimulant  influence,  but  appears  to  calm  the  irritation  which  previously  existed. 
Of  course,  no  rules  as  to  diet  can  be  laid  down,  which  are  not  subject  to  modification 
under  particular  circumstances,  according  to  the  peculiarity  of  the  case  and  the  state  of 
the  constitution.  The  great  success  of  the  late  Dr.  Todd,  in  the  treatment  of  the  insane 
at  the  Connecticut  Retreat,  at  Hartford,  was  doubtless  owing  in  a  great  degree  to  a  highly 
nourishing  diet,  conjoined  with  a  tonic  course  of  medicine. 

BOSTON  LUNATIC  HOSPITAL. 

Diet. — Beef  soup,  twice  a  week ;  baked  beef,  twice  a  week ;  corned  beef,  (cold,)  fnce 
a  week ;  salt  fish,  once  a  week ;  beans  and  pork,  once  a  week.  250  Ibs.  of  beef,  at  5$ 
cents  per  lb.,  is  the  weekly  allowance.  Average  number  of  inmates,  103. 

In  the  matter  of  diet  for  the  patients,  a  very  liberal  one  has  hitherto  been  allowed,  upon 
the  ground  of  its  importance  as  a  part  of  curative  treatment.  But  in  view  of  the  fact, 
that  a  great  proportion  of  the  present  inmates  are  hopelessly  insane  paupers,  the  Board 
of  Supervision  have  concluded  that  no  good  reason  exists  for  a  distinction  in  diet  from 


318 


APPENDIX. 


that  of  the  House  of  Industry.    They  have  accordingly  suggested  the  expediency  of 
equalizing  the  two,  which  the  Superintendent  is  about  to  do. 

LUNATIC  ASYLT'M. 

MANHATTANVILLE.    (NEW   YORK    ISLAND.) 


Breakfas.    .  . 


Dinner  . 


Meat,  hashed  with  potatoes,  or  cold,  with  bread  and  butter,  coffee,  miL,  and! 
sugar. 

Roast  meat— beef,  mutton  or  lamb,  with  ve£ef ahles,  rice,  flour, 
bread,  or  fruit  puddings. 

Soup,  with  rice  or  Indian  mush — pastry  on  Wednesday. 

Corn  beef— with  potatoes  and  other  vegetable?,  pudd-n^r,  ' 
<  Boiled  fish,  (either  fresh  or  halted  cod,  fresh   halibut,  fliad.j 
\     mackerel,  tec.,  in  their  season.) 


'Monday    . 
Tuesday  . 
Wednesday 
Saturday 

Thursday    . 


Friday  . 
Sunday  . 


Cold  meat,  with  warm  vegetables,  pastry,  eh 

' 


Bread  and  butter,  tea  or  milk  —  molasses  gingerbread  on  Jl'ednesday—  sugar  cakes) 


«  uiftiu  <iiiu  uuiirr,  ira  ui  miii\ — i 

PF      on  Sunday  evening — cheese  do. 


REMARKS. 

The  above  articles  are  of  the  very  best  quality,  and  allowed  ad  libitum.  Seven  cows 
are  kept  on  the  premises,  and  the  milk,  which,  with  what  is  bought,  amounts  to  eighty 
quarts  per  day,  is  all  used  in  the  establishment  The  pastry  and  puddings  are  made  ex- 
actly as  in  the  best  private  families.  There  is  a  great  abundance  of  fruit  on  the  premises, 
such  as  cherries,  strawberries,  currants,  blackberries,  &c.f  which  are  freely  allowed  to  the 
patients  in  their  season.  No  difference  is  made  in  the  diet  of  males  and  females.  Break- 
fast, in  summer,  is  at  half-past  6  o'clock ;  dinner  at  12;  tea  at  half-past  (5.  In  winter, 
tea  is  at  0  and  breakfast  at  7.  The  number  of  patients  in  the  institution  is  about  100. 
The  other  inmates,  including  officers,  servants,  farmers,  and  attendants,  amount  to  50. 

The  following  abstract  of  the  amount  of  provisions  used  in  the  establishment  during 
the  month  of  June,  1843,  is  copied  from  the  Steward's  Register : 


Ibs.  of  Bread,  or  833  Loaves. 
ofBnUer. 

of  Cheese.  ' 
of  Black  Tea. 
Brown  (Porto  Rico)  Sugar. 
I.Viim-d  White  Sugar. 
Flour,  (for  Pastry.) 
Rice. 

Laguira  Coffee. 
Potatoes. 


(« 
72 

757 

458 
68 

150 

84 

•10  Hunches  Salad. 

59  Mackerel. 

10  Quarts  White  Beans. 


8  Bushels  Beets. 
18  Ibs.  Barley. 

'\<n\<  Molasses. 
11  (iallons  Vinegar. 
-11  Boflheb  Spin  age. 
3271  Ibs.    Meat,  (about  2-3ds  beef— l-3d   Lamb, 

Veal,  &c.) 
100  Dozen  Eggs. 

For  Mustard,  Pepper,  and  Spices,  about  $56  an- 
nually. 

Beer  and  Wine  as  prescribed  by  the  Plu 
Tobacco,  (tor  Smoking,  Chewing,  and  Snuffing,) 
to  the  amount  of  $6  50  per  month. 


From  the  above  it  will  be  seen  that  the  diat  does  not  differ  much  from  that  of  a  well- 
ordered  respectable  private  family. 


HP 


